Bosnia-Herzegovina, the chronicle of a fragile peace
The scars of the war in the former Yugoslavia remain.
"I don't really know if you know in detail how it all started in the 1990s, but that's how it was", says Merita in a bar in the centre of Sarajevo about the situation Bosnia and Herzegovina is going through. It all started last July, when the then High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, although he had only a week left in office at the time, introduced an amendment to the Bosnian Criminal Code. This measure punished with imprisonment the glorification of war criminals and the denial of crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces.
The young woman was referring not only to this, however, but to all the inter-communal tensions that have been at the centre of recent months in the Western Balkans: constant aggression between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo's northern municipalities, the riots in Belgrade last month against anti-nationalist activists and now, just as the young woman says happened in the 1990s, tensions have reached the official institutions of BiH.
Inzko's move should not be a problem since Srebrenica is the only genocide in the Balkans, which occurred during the Yugoslav wars, recognised by the international community. More than 8,000 Muslims were taken from their homes and killed by Serb troops in July 1995. In the years since, dozens of body-tracking projects have been launched in order to find the victims, or parts of them, as the same excavations showed that parts of the same body were found in different mass graves. Even so, dozens of victims remain unaccounted for.
Photographer Tarik Samarah spent years documenting what happened in this small town in eastern Bosnia; the history contained in his material is felt as soon as one enters Galerija 11/07/95, Bosnia's first memorial gallery, located in the centre of the country's capital. This space aims to preserve the memory of the Srebrenica tragedy and of exactly 8,372 people who died in the massacres. Photographs of the victims; mostly men, but also women and children look at you as soon as you enter. A room where you put a face to the more than 8,000 bodies that were unearthed in the years that followed or are still missing. Behind you, images of the survivors, of the excavations, of families mourning their loved ones, accompany you throughout the visit. Finally, the indifference and racism of the international community, present in the summer of 1995 through Dutch units. Following a report revealed months after the killings, the Dutch representatives had to resign en bloc. However, no compensation has been given to the families who were left at the mercy of Serb troops, while those who were supposed to protect them denied them such protection.
"The genocide [in Srebrenica] has not happened and that is a lasting assessment of all of us. We will not succumb to decisions coming from the high representative," said Milorad Dodik, a Serb member of the collegial Presidency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in response to Inzko's amendment. This is also reflected in Serbia's actions. Murals of the generals and perpetrators of crimes already tried continue to decorate the streets of Belgrade. And it is better not to touch them. This is well known to activists Aida Corovic and Jelena Jacimovic, who were arrested in early November for throwing eggs at Ratko Mladic's mural. Mladic, better known as 'the butcher of the Balkans', was chief of staff during the Bosnian war and was considered guilty of the Srebrenica genocide. This is denied in Serbia, and the same mural of the soldier reads "general, your mother should be proud".
Live music plays loudly in the bar. Dozens of people crowd around singing and drinking. The centre of Sarajevo at this hour seems to have no memory of the war that ravaged the country for more than three years. Nor of the pandemic. "Now the parliament is not functioning. The Serb members are boycotting it," the young woman says worriedly, ignoring the din around her.
The High Representative's amendment has provoked a reaction from the Serb side. Dodik said that Inzko "has put the tombstone on Bosnia and Herzegovina" and said that the Bosnian Serb Republic will now begin the process of separating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Inzko continues to commit crimes against the Serb people. With this he has shown that he hates Serbs," he said at the time. For his part, Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that such a decision is an "act of revenge", which must be "prevented or ignored".
This is not the first time Dodik has raised his voice with such separatist threats. Already three years ago, the leader of the Serb side described the dissolution of the Bosnian Serb army into a national army as a big mistake. And he has always expressed his intention for the Bosnian Serb territory to have its own security forces.
However, "here it's not like in Kosovo. All communities relate to each other; in the same group of friends there are young Bosnians and Serbs, and there are no problems between us", explains Merita when talking about the separation of ethnic communities in BiH. When leaving the bar, the atmosphere is the same, young people enjoying the city's nightlife. Everyone is laughing as they stroll through the dark streets, and the young woman's fear of another possible conflict in the country seems unique to her.
In daylight, the atmosphere is different. The capital experienced one of the worst episodes of this conflict: the siege of Sarajevo. This was the longest siege of a city in modern history, during which it is estimated that more than 12,000 people were killed and 50,000 wounded during this blockade that lasted more than four years.
The Balkan country does not want to forget its history. Who forgets his history is condemned to repeat it', reads the words at the entrance to the Genocide Museum in the very centre of the city. Sarajevo itself is a constant reminder of the conflict. Not only because of the museums or exhibitions, but also because many of its inhabitants have decided not to rebuild the walls of their buildings. That is why walking through bullet holes is the norm in the city. Streets like Sniper Alley are full of them. And on the ground, red roses remind us of where the victims were hit by these bullets.
Now, two weeks away from the 26th anniversary of the ratification of the Dayton Accords, Bosnia is once again experiencing the highest escalation of tensions since the war. Just as it did with Kosovo this past summer. Merita's words resonate, "in the 1990s it started like this".
The Bosnian war was the last and bloodiest of the Balkan wars. A conflict that left more than 100,000 dead and around two million displaced. Merita tells her story, her family's story, but her eyes do not water until she remembers what her best friend went through. Both are from Kozarac, a small village in the north of the country. In May 1992 it was isolated and shelled by Serb forces (90% of Kozarac's population was Bosnian Muslim, better known as Bosniaks). 800 people were killed, 1,200 were captured by Serb troops and taken to labour camps and more than 50% of the town was completely destroyed. destroyed. "I doubt she would tell you her story," she says of her friend's experience, "it's too hard and personal, although everyone here has been through something like that".
It was the Dayton Accords, signed on 14 December 1995, which established mechanisms to end the hostilities, such as the demilitarisation and reconstruction of the country, the holding of free elections, the creation of a new constitution and the transfer of refugees to their homes. In addition, this text provided for how Bosnia and Herzegovina would be divided. The former Yugoslav province was the most diverse in the region, with 44% of its population being Bosniaks, 32% Orthodox Bosnian Serbs and 17% Bosnian Catholics.
The parties agreed that the country would be divided into two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a Bosniak and Croat population, and the Bosnian Serb Republic of Srpska. In the same vein, the new constitutional text clarified that BiH's form of statehood would be collective. That is, the Presidency would be composed of three members: one Bosniac and one Croat elected by the Federation and one Serb elected by the Republika Srpska. This presidency would rotate every eight months among the three elected for a four-year term.
And now, 26 years after Dayton was ratified, it seems that the peace he sought is crumbling. Pessimists say that if the two forces continue to tighten the noose, we could be facing a new armed conflict. Dodik is threatening to break up the Republic for good, although his main proclamation has been his intention to create his own Armed Forces in his territory and thus do away with the unified armed forces that were agreed at Dayton. Something he never agreed to.
For its part, the international community is on standby. The now High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, has already warned in his first report that "the potential for further divisions and conflict is very real". Moreover, Schmidt warned that Dodik's actions "endanger the peace and stability of the country and the region".
Nine members of the European Parliament have called on Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to apply sanctions against Dodik, who they believe is in violation of the Dayton agreement. In addition, European Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Valhelyi warned Bosnian leaders on Friday that if divisions between Serbs, Bosniacs and Bosnians continue there is a risk that up to 1.5 billion euros in European investment could be lost.
Russia, in turn, plays its game. Together with China, it is Dodik's biggest supporter. It has already condemned the High Representative's amendment, a figure it does not recognise. Bosnia is Russia's gateway to the Western Balkans, since Vucic's rise to power relations with Serbia are not as good as they seem. And since Montenegro and North Macedonia joined NATO in 2017 and 2020 respectively, relations with them have been severed. That is why the Bosnian Serb leader is counting on Russia and has already made it clear that he will support it if the EU applies sanctions.
Everything is on hold. Dodik assures that there will be no need to resort to arms and that there is no chance of a repeat of what happened in the 1990s. However, recent events have raised the ghosts of the past among the Bosnian population.
"Merita keeps sending me things about Bosnia. She is afraid", I am told back in Kosovo.