The history of this region is almost as long as the novel. But it’s the most recent past for which the region is most commonly remembered. The nineties brought bloody war. The unity of Tito’s Yugoslavia collapsed as provinces declared independence. Settled peoples suddenly found themselves living in the ‘wrong’ country.
Bosnia Herzegovina bore the brunt of the war. Its capital, Sarajevo, was under siege for 1425 days. For nearly four years its citizens lived under daily bombardment from Serbian positions. 14 000 people died. Homes were destroyed. Food and ammunition were smuggled in through a tunnel dug under the UN-controlled airport. How could a city considered ‘civilised’ enough to host the Olympics find itself under siege a mere eight years later? It’s incomprehensible.
Srebrenica saw the worst genocide in Europe since the Second World War. 8000 Bosniak men were murdered in a UN-declared safe area. Only a year after the genocide in Rwanda, the UN again failed the ordinary people. The ‘peace-keepers’ mandate did not stretch to keeping peace. They stood by as the Serbs ethnically-cleansed the area. Mass graves are still being excavated. Families cling to the hope of identification of their loved ones and some kind of closure.
In Mostar the bridge unifying Bosniaks and Croats was destroyed. More than just a piece of historic architecture, the bridge came to represent the war and the tearing apart of a nation and its people. Now rebuilt, Mostar still lives in two halves. History is hard to erase.
The Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 brought peace of a sort. It divided Bosnia into two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and the Repubika Srpska, the now overwhelmingly ‘cleansed’ Serb area. The houses have been rebuilt. The bridges reconstructed. The economy stabilised. But the marks of war are still there if you look. Houses are pockmarked with bullet holes. Sarajevo Roses mark the mortar holes as memorials to the dead; mortar shells still embedded. The cemeteries stretch on and on.
Bosnia in particular still lives on a knife’s edge. Two entities. Three main ethnic groups. Two strong neighbours. Ethnic differences are still played up by politicians. Popularism may be sweeping the world right now but here it has the potential to cause real damage. Sunday’s election will be a test of Bosnia Herzegovina’s progress and of peace itself.
Other parts of the former Yugoslavia still live in a fragile state too. Serbian and Kosovan politicians are considering a land swap. Is this a pragmatic approach to agreeing Kosovan independence or another form of ethnic cleansing?
To say the history of the Balkans is complex is an understatement. Peace reigns for now. But the tinderbox could blow at any time. Emotions are still very raw. But most people want to live together in peace. Let’s hope the politicians avoid the urge to write another chapter.
