Where is this ship going to?

There is almost no citizen of this beautiful country who does ask the question where this country has been going to, where our leaders have been taking us to and whether this beautiful ship has started sinking under such leadership with such behavior.

Of course, this country has different definitions and different problems. The one closest to me is that that here is one country, with two entities, three constitutive peoples, four traditional religions and hundreds of problems.

Certainly not the biggest, but currently the most talked about problem is the implementation of the decision of the Court in Strasbourg in the case of Sejdic and Finci, which has been standing still, unimplemented, since 22nd December 2009. Of course, after the implementation of this decision, there will be at least 99 huge problems left remaining, starting from corruption, huge unemployment, stagnation of the economy, restitution of property to neighboring relations, definition of borders, making the administration cheaper and all those reforms which we know we need to complete prior to negotiations about accession to the European Union and NATO.

However, it is visible that for such a step there should be unity of the leaders who run this country, not the ethnicity-based unity but rather a unique vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 or so. Listening nowadays to messages of those leaders, we always hear “my people”, “my entity” and “my party”, yet we never hear “my country”, “our citizens” or something that would be unifying us all. Even the placement of the soccer representation to the World Championship has not been welcome with delight in the whole country, thus certainly the results from Brazil will somewhere be welcome with joy in case of a victory or with even a greater joy, in some other parts of the country, in case of a defeat. Therefore if “the second most important thing in the world” cannot unite us, the question is what can?

What can unite us is the understanding that the only route for us is the European Union and NATO as, even without this, we have been left out as a black hole in the Balkans, surrounded by the countries which have been in those integrations already, or which have been doing everything they can to get there as soon as possible. It is clear that conditions for accession will become increasingly harder and more complicated, therefore it will be very difficult to meet the basic postulates of the Union, playing the “my entity”, “my people” and such cards.

It is obvious that for the country, which has constantly been having pre-election campaigns, it is very difficult to achieve unity in anything, including the manner of accession to the EU and NATO, but it is also clear that elections will not resolve anything, as there is no party (for the time being) which is publicly against it. The truth is that there are some threats that joining NATO will require a partial referendum, as if NATO wants and can accept the membership of 51% of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If we are unable to change our leaders, it is very hard to expect that they will, in their accustomed politics, change their views, hence it only remains to rely on citizens, on the civil society in the widest meaning of the word, which will be prepared to say ENOUGH. Simply, such politics makes us sink deeper and deeper, we get into huge debts with the international financial institutions, as we have not exceeded the indebtedness threshold that takes us into a future debt slavery, while all the funds, we have been getting under not too favorable terms, we spend on paying alimonies to the budget to cover the costs of huge salaries of those who make decisions about us, without allocating any cents for productive investments.

Even the 5-C corridor project, which could be a version of the new deal from the USA’s thirties of the last century, it all comes down to who will take more money, thus in terms of the cost by kilometer, we have been building the most expensive highway in Europe, as if it is all made of viaducts and tunnels, even when it is going through lowland meadows.

How can the civil society get serious for something like this? How to raise awareness of the citizens that this way we are only being promised a road to disaster and our children are being promised potential employment in those parts of the world where there is no any labor force. It is hard for anyone to be happy about such perspective, even for those who dislike this country and claim that it should not exist, as such.

The clock is ticking, time does not work for us, thus if we do not do anything for ourselves, nobody else will. The phrase “there’s no salvation, but we will not go down” is all too nice, but even this is not guaranteed by anyone.

Kud’ plovi ovaj brod?

Gotovo da nema građanina ove lijepe zemlje koji ne postavlja pitanje kuda ide ova zemlje, kuda nas naši lideri vode i počinje li ovaj lijepi brod polako da tone pod ovakvim rukovodstvom sa ovakvim ponašanjem.

Naravno, ima ova država raznih definicija i raznih problema. Onaj koji je meni najbliži je da je ovdje jedna država, sa dva entiteta, tri konstitutivna naroda, četiri tradicionalne religije i stotinu problema.  

Sigurno ne najveći, ali momentalno najaktuelniji problem je implementacija odluke suda u Strazburu u predmetu Sejdić i Finci, koja stoji neprovedena od 22. decembra 2009. godine.
Naravno, i nakon implementacije ove presude ostaće nam najmanje 99 velikih problema, počevši od korupcije, velike nezaposlenosti, stagnirajuće privrede, restitucije imovine,  pa do odnosa sa susjedima, utvrđivanje granica , pojeftinjenja administracije i sve one reforme koje znamo da moramo završiti prije pregovora o ulasku u Evropsku uniju i NATO.

Međutim, vidljivo je da za takav korak treba postojati jedinstvo lidera koji vode zemlju, ne jedinstvo na etničkoj osnovi, nego jedinstvena vizije Bosne i Hercegovine u 2020 ili tu negdje.  Slušajući danas nastupe tih lidera, uvijek čujemo “moj narod”, “moj entitet”,”moja stranka”, a nikada “moja država”, “naši građani” ili nešto što bi nas objedinjavalo. Čak ni plasman nogometne reprezentacije na svjetsko prvenstvo nije dočekan sa oduševljenjem u cijeloj zemlji, te će sigurno i rezultati u Brazilu, negdje biti dočekani sa veseljem u slučaju pobjede, ili sa još većim veseljem u nekim dijelovima zemlje u slučaju poraza. Ako nas ni “najvažnija sporedna stvar na svijetu” ne može ujediniti, postavlja se pitanje šta može.

Može razumijevanje da nam je jedini put Evropska unija i NATO, jer smo bez toga ostali crna rupa na Balkanu, okružena zemljama koje su već u tim integracijama, ili rade svim silama da se tamo nađu u što skorije vrijeme. Jasno je da će uvjeti za pristupanje biti sve teži i komplikovaniji, te da  će biti jako teško zadovoljiti osnovne postulate Unije, igrajući na kartu “moj entitet”, “moj narod” i slično.

Očito je da u zemlji koja je konstantno u predizbornim kampanjama, teško postići jedinstvo u bilo čemu, pa i o načinu ulaska u EU i NATO, ali je isto tako jasno da ni izbori  ništa neće riješiti, jer nema te stranke (za sada) koja se tome javno protivi. Istina, ima pretnji da će za ulazak u NATO biti tražen parcijalni referendum, kao da NATO hoće i može  primiti u članstvo 51% Bosne i Hercegovine.

Ako nismo u mogućnosti promijeniti lidere koji nas vode, vrlo je teško očekivati da će oni u svojoj ušančenoj politici promjeniti svoja mišljenja, ostaje nam da se oslonimo na građane, na civilno društvo u naširem smislu te riječi koje će biti spremno da kaže DOSTA. Jednostavno, ovakvom politikom samo tonemo sve dublje i dublje, zadužujemo se kod međunarodnih finansijskih institucija, jer još nismo prešli prag zaduženosti koji nas vodi u buduće dužničko ropstvo, a sav novac koji pod ne jako povoljnim uslovima dobijamo, trošimo na alimentiranje budžeta za pokrivanje troškova enormnih plata onih koji o nama odlučuju, a bez izdvajanja i pare za produktivne investicije.

Čak ni projekat koridora 5-c, koji bi mogao biti inačica new dealu iz Amerike u tridesetim godinama prošlog vijeka, svodi se na to ko će uzeti više novaca, pa gradimo po kilometru najskuplji autoput u Evropi, kao da je sav u tunelima i vijaduktima, pa čak i onda kada ide po ravnoj livadi.

Kako uozbiljiti civilno društvo za tako nešto? Kako podići svijest građana da nam ovim putem samo obećavaju put u propast, a našoj djeci eventualno zapošljavanje u onim dijelovima svijeta gdje radne snage nedostaje. Takvoj perspektivi se malo ko može radovati, pa čak i oni koji ovu zemlju ne vole i tvrde da kao takva ne treba da postoji.

Sat otkucava, vrijeme ne radi za nas, pa ako mi sami nešto ne uradimo za sebe, nitko drugi neće. Lijepa je floskula “spasa nam nema, ali propasti nećemo”, ali nam ni to nitko ne može garantovati.

Our Youth

One of the most favorite and repeated quotes of the legendary Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was about Yugoslav youth; “Country with this youth does not have to fear for its future.” Well, if that is the case, then the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is uncertain indeed.
 
All media and web portals have over the past few days been swamped by the story about three teenage girls from Tuzla who molested and beat up another girl. None of the several school children who were observing the harassment in the school yard even tried to intervene, while some of the onlookers obviously saw this as great entertainment. The incident was filmed and clip was posted on the YouTube, while the three girls later went as far as to brag about their “accomplishment” on social networks (so much about social networks).

This was not a sole incident but just another drop in a rising sea of incidents involving adolescents. Only few days later, again in Tuzla, one teenager wounded his school buddy with a pocket knife.   

Five years ago, in February 2008, Bosnia was shocked by the senseless murder of 17-year od Denis Mrnjavac, who was beaten and then stabbed to death by a group of several teenagers in a Sarajevo tram. The culprits did not even know Denis Mrnjavac but did not like the look they thought he gave them so they decided to end his life for that. The murder triggered a wave of protests in Sarajevo and other towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina, which eventually led to the resignation of the Premier of Sarajevo Canton in October that year.

Today, five years later juvenile incidents seem more frequent, brutal and senseless then ever. They still leave bad taste in our mouth but it seems that people are getting used to them. They rarely shock anyone anymore and trigger only lukewarm public protests.

The attacker on Denis Mrnjavac and his accomplices were sentenced to maximum sentences totaling 35 years in prison, while three girls from Tuzla were swiftly kicked out of their school. But that has hardly fixed the problem this country is facing with its youth, or maybe it has made the problem even bigger.

Public reactions to the incident involving three girls in Tuzla, as well as details of that and other similar incidents in the past have shown that our public suffers from the same serious behavioral problem like the three girls themselves. In addition to the calls for their expelling from the school and criminal processing, various public guardians and caretakers have also used social networks – again, so much about the (a)social networks – to call for their lynch, mass rape and other sorts of utterly inappropriate physical and psychological punishment.

Only few people pointed to the fact that growing juvenile delinquency is only a reflection of the overall situation in our society and a consequence of the general failure of family, parents and their parenting and education system to raise their children as individuals who will create and contribute to the society rather then destroy and take away its values.

Five years ago, mother of one of the killers of Denis Mrnjavac helped her son to hide the murder weapon. On the other hand, few days ago father of one of the three girls from Tuzla told media that if the three girls were prosecuted he would stand in favor of the harassed girl. Such reactions of those parents may be pointing at flaws in the upbringing of these children which have eventually led to such incidents.

Schools, teachers and country’s education system hold their own part of responsibility for the apparent demise of at least part of our youth. Still, the greatest responsibility lies on families and parents – which is something many parents desperately try to avoid or ignore.

Our youth is mirror-image of our own past as well as indication of our own future. The image is not pretty and if we want to change it, we better think fast about changing our present.







Author: Srećko Latal

Naša mladež

Jedan od omiljenih i najčešće ponavljanih citata legendarnog jugoslovenskog lidera Josipa Broza Tita je bio onaj o jugoslovenskoj omladini: “Zemlja sa ovakvom omladinom se ne treba plašiti za svoju budućnost.” E pa, ako je to tako, onda je budućnost Bosne i Hercegovine itekako neizvjesna.
 
Svi mediji i internet portali su u proteklih nekoliko dana bili preplavljeni pričom o tri tinejdžerke iz Tuzle koje su maltretirale i pretukle jednu vršnjakinju. Niko od mnogobrojnih učenika koji su u školskom dvorištu prisustvovali maltretiranju nisu ni pokušali to sprijećiti, a neki su se očigledno I jako dobro zabavljali. Incident je snimljen i objavljen Youtube-u, a dotične su se svojim “podvigom” čak i hvalile na društvenim mrežama (toliko o društvenim mrežama).

Ovo nije usamljeni incident nego još samo jedna kap u rastućem moru incidenata u koje su uključeni adolescenti. Samo nekoliko dana kasnije, opet u Tuzli, tinejdžer je povrijedio nožem školskog druga.    

Prije pet godina, u februaru 2008., BiH je bila šokirana besmislenim ubistvom 17-godišnjeg Denisa Mrnjavca, koga su tri tinejdžera pretukli i onda izboli na smrt u jednom sarajevskom tramvaju. Počinitelji čak nisu ni poznavali Denisa ali im se nije dopalo kako im se učinilo da ih je gledao pa su mu stoga odlučili oduzeti život. Ovo je ubistvo je pokrenulo talas protesta u Sarajevu i drugim gradovima širom Bosne i Hercegovine, što je napokon dovelo do ostavke premijera sarajevskog Kantona u oktobru te godine.

Danas, pet godna kasnije, maloljetnički incidenti su češći, brutalniji i besmisleniji nego ikad. I dalje ostavljaju gorčinu u ustima a opet izgleda da se ljudi na to navikavaju. Ovi incidenti danas malo koga šokiraju a reakcije javnosti su mlake.

Napadač na Denisa Mrnjavca i njegovi suučesnici su osuđeni na maksimalne zatvorske kazne u ukupnom trajanju od 35 godina, dok su djevojke iz Tuzle odmah izbačene iz škole. No teško da je to riješilo problem sa kojim se ova država suočava u vezi svoje mladeži, ili ga je čak učinilo i većim.

Reakcija javnosti na incident sa djevojkama u Tuzli, kao i drugi detalji vezani za te i druge incidente su pokazali da naša javnost pati od istog ozbiljnog problema u ponašanju kao i te tri djevojke. Pored poziva da se odmah izbace iz škole i da ih se krivično procesuira, različiti čuvari javnog mišljenja i dušebrižnici su također koristili društvene mreže – opet, eto toliko o (ne)društvenim mrežama – da pozovu na njihovo linčovanje, masovno silovanje i druge krajnje neprilične načine fizičkog i psihološkog kažnjavanja.

Svega nekolicina je ukazala na činjenicu da je porast maloljetničke delinkvencije samo refleksija opšte situacije u našem društvu i posljedica generalnog zakazivanja porodice, roditelja i njihovog načina odgoja i obrazovnog sistema da podignu svoju djecu u osobe koje stvaraju i doprinose društvu a ne uništavaju i ukidaju vrijednosti tog društva.

Prije pet godina, majka jednog od počinitelja ubistva Denisa Mrnjavca je pomogla sinu da skrije nož kojim je zločin počinjen. Sa druge strane, prije par dana otac jedne od tri djevojke iz Tuzle je rekao medijima da će u slučaju tužbe stati na stranu pretučene djevojke. Ovakve reakcije roditelja možda ukazuju na propuste u odgoju te djece koje su i dovele do incidenata. 

Škole, učitelji i obrazovni sistem ove zemlje također snose svoj dio odgovornosti za očigledno propadanje barem dijela naše mladeži. Ipak, najveća odgovornost jeste na porodicama i roditeljima – a to je ono što mnogi roditelji očajnički pokušavaju da izbjegnu ili ignorišu.

Naša mladež je direktni odraz naše prošlosti kao i pokazatelj naše budućnosti. Slika nije ni malo lijepa i ukoliko je hoćemo promijeniti, bolje nam je da pod hitno smislimo kako ćemo promijeniti našu sadašnjost.

 Autor: Srećko Latal

The Census Started and Completed, the Old Problems Remained

According to the official Population Census of 1991, the number of 8964 of the Roma population lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina; however, the Roma non-governmental organizations, around 80 of them in BiH, have concluded that this number is much higher, estimating the number of the Roma population currently living in Bosnia and Herzegovina to range from 85,000 – 100,000.

This indicates that the Roma population mainly declared themselves, during the 1991 Census, as Yugoslavs, Moslems, Serbs, Croats and, to a great extent, none of the offered options, and the cause for such a situation was the fear of discrimination, which would negatively reflect on the social prosperity of the Roma. During the war in BiH, horrific movements of the Roma population occurred in the sense of changing their residential addresses. Assumptions are that, during this period, more than 1/3 of them emigrated from BiH, whereas more than 85% of those, who were unable to leave to other countries, fled from the territory of Republika Srpska to the Federation of BiH.

Twenty or so years after since the last Census, the Governments of BiH have finally decided to do the population and household census. And, just as everything else happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same happened to the Census – the issue has first gotten politicized with the aim to collect/gather the voting bodies, frightening them from the other and different. Chase and campaigns about who is who, whether it is right to be a Bosnian and Herzegovinian, a Serb or Orthodox, a Croat or Bosnian Croat, Bosniak or Moslem, a Jew or Hebrew, a Gypsy or Roma are those which nobody is interested in or are at least less interested from the question how and what do we make our living on as the Roma, Jews, Bosniaks, Serbs or Croats.

And while chases and campaigns lasted and, at the same time, the state and entity Agencies for Statistics were “sort of” performing training of the Census staff and instructors, it has been known in advance what are the numbers of those that must be Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, while the “Others” are, again, put altogether. It is not important that the Roma population has requested, in the Roma communities that we, the activists, serve as observers, if not as the Census staff or to work as the Census staff in our communities in the presence of non-Roma population. However, the politics has done its thing and the very few of the Roma Census staff – about 10 of them in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though at least 100 of them applied – were sent as far away from the Roma community and as far away from the place they come form or reside as possible, thus some of them were forced to give up.

The Roma communities were dealt with by the Census staff – the cases marked in Banovici, Kalesija, Brcko District, Vukosavlje, who, at their own discretion, and I would daresay according to the orders of the “instruction-givers”, were recording the Roma population either as Bosniaks or Serbs. In some of the areas, only after the intervention of the activists of the Roma non-governmental sector, they have tried to correct the “injustice”. However, this injustice could not have been corrected by anybody in the area of Banovici Municipality, where the Census staff refused any intervention by the citizens in question. What is the most drastic in this case was that this issue was with the family of a Roma leader and municipal counsel in the municipality of Banovici.

Of course, the Roma, as well as all the others, are waiting to get the results of the Census, although we assume that, after receiving these results, that the official number of the Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be significantly lower that the actual number. As everyone else in BiH, the Roma population had not spent time “sitting with our arms and legs crossed”; we had also prepared for the Census in a way that we visited almost every single family in BiH, encouraging them to freely declare themselves. On that occasion we found out that there was around 126,000 of the Roma population living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having in mind that more than 1,500 Roma families left Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last few months prior to the Census, we expect that a realistic number of the Roma concluded by the Census could range from 90,000 to 95,000 persons. Whether the statistics, judging by all in a very disputable and politicized Census, will come up with this number remains to be seen.
 

Dervo Sejdić
Roma Non-Governmental Sector Activist

Popis bio i proš’o, a problemi ostali stari

Po zvaničnom popisu stanovništva iz 1991. godine u Bosni i Hercegovini živi 8964 Roma, međutim romske nevladine organizacije, kojih je oko 80 u BiH,  konstatuju da je taj broj mnogo veći i procjenjuju da u Bosni i Hercegovini trenutno živi od 85.000-100.000 Roma.

Ovo govori da su se Romi do 1991. godine izjašnjavali najvećim dijelom kao Jugosloveni, Muslimani, Srbi, Hrvati i dobrim dijelom neopredjeljeni, a uzrok za ovakvo stanje je bio strah od diskriminacije koja bi se negativno reflektovala na socijalni prosperitet Roma.

Tokom rata u BiH, dolazi do strahovitih pomjeranja Roma u smislu promjene boravišne adrese. Pretpostavke su da je u ovom periodu iz BiH emigriralo više od 1/3, a da je sa prostora Republike Srpske u Federaciju BiH izbjeglo više od 85 % onih koji nisu mogli otići u druge zemlje.

Nakon 20 godina od posljednjeg popisa, vlasti u BiH su napokon odlučile da obave popis stanovnistva i domaćinstava. I kao što sve u Bosni i Hercegovini biva, tako se i oko popisa prvo pitanje dobro ispolitizira u cilju prikupljanja/okupljanja glasačkog tijela, plašeći iste od drugog i drugačijeg. Hajke i kampanje ko je ko, da li je ispravno biti Bosanac i Hercegovac, Srbin ili Pravoslavac, Hrvat ili Bosanski Hrvat, Bošnjak ili Musliman, Jevrej ili Židov, Cigan ili Rom pri tome nikoga ne interesuju, ili ih pak interesuje manje od pitanja kako i od čega živimo kao Romi, Jevreji, Bošnjaci, Srbi ili Hrvati.

I dok traju hajke i kampanje u isto vrijeme državna i entitetske agencije za statistiku „kobajagi“ vrše obuku popisivača i instruktora, a već se unaprijed znalo koliko kojih mora biti iz reda Bošnjaka, Srba i Hrvata, a „ostali“ opet svi u jedan koš. Nije bitno što su Romi zahtjevali da u romskim mahalama, mi aktivisti, budemo kao posmatrači, ako ne i popisivači ili da kao popisivači radimo u našim mahalama u prisustvu ne-Roma. Medjutim politika je uradila svoje, ono malo Romskih popisivača – oko 10-tak u čitavoj Bosni i Hercegovini dok se prijavilo barem 100-tinjak – upućeno je što dalje od romske mahale i što dalje od rodne kuće  ili mjesta boravka, pa su neki bili prisiljeni i odustati.

U romske mahale ulazili su popisivači, slučajevi zabilježeni u Banovićima, Kalesiji, Brčko Distriktu, Vukosavlju, koji su po svom nahođenju, volji a ja bih rekao po uputama „naredbodavaca“ popisivali Rome da li kao Bošnjake ili kao Srbe. U nekim od ovih sredina tek nakon intervencije aktivista romskog nevladinog sektora nastojalo se ispraviti „krivu Drinu.“ Međutim tu krivu rijeku niko nije mogao ispraviti na području opštine Banovići gdje je popisivač odbijao bilo koju intervenciju od strane ispitanika. Ono što je najdrastičnije u tom slučaju je da je tu riječ o porodici romskog lidera i opštinskog vijećnika u opštini Banovići.

Naravno i Romi kao i svi ostali čekaju rezultate popisa, mada mi predpostavljamo da će i nakon tih rezultata zvaničan broj Roma u Bosni i Hercegovini biti znatno manji od stvarnog broja. Kao i svi u BiH i Romi nisu sjedili „skršenih ruku i nogu“ i mi smo se pripremali za popis na način da smo obišli skoro sve i jednu porodicu u BiH hrabreći ih na slobodu deklarisanja. Tom prilikom smo konstatovali da u Bosni i Hercegovini živi oko 126.000 Roma. Uzimajući u obzir da je Bosnu i Hercegovinu napustilo više od 1.500 romskih familija u zadnjih par mjeseci prije popisa, mi očekujemo da bi realan broj Roma konstatovan popisom mogao da se kreće od 90.000 do 95.000 osoba. Da li će statistika, po svemu sudeći kroz vrlo upitan i ispolitiziran popis, konstatovati ovaj broj, ostaje da se vidi.


Dervo Sejdić
Aktivista romskog nevladinog sektora

Gathering for the Harvest

Last weekend my wife, son and I joined a group of our friends and acquaintances in a small village near Pozega in Croatia to help harvesting apples in a friend’s orchard. We all enjoyed warm sun and light breeze of that early autumn day and even the hard work – and we did work hard for some hours – did not bother us that much. As a matter of fact I enjoyed working out my muscles which are regularly unused and bored by my usual work – typing on computer. In addition to the nice weather and the rare opportunity to exercise, I also enjoyed the company of people who gathered from across Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help a friend in need. Joyful day was completed with tasty lunch of pot-cooked beans, home-made cakes and sealed with a sing-along with couple of guitars. 

The comradeship reminded me of the days long gone, when friends, relatives and neighbors were regularly meeting over coffee and helping each other – be it in harvesting or building of a house. It also reminded me of so-called Youth Work Actions, voluntary participation of thousands of youth in major projects such as constructions of highways and railroads or working on forestation of country’s landscape. These actions helped rebuild Yugoslavia after the World War II but were slowly abandoned in 80’s, disappearing before advancing capitalism (politically correct word is market economy) and growing nationalism. In my youth days I did participate in few of those as well. Although the work was hard I enjoyed the comradeship, solidarity, tolerance and the sense of common purpose that I felt there.

Most of these habits, which were a part of centuries-old tradition of this region, are almost gone by now, replaced by cold and ruthless dog-eat-dog world of competition and selfishness. I witnessed one such example couple of winters ago, when Sarajevo got covered by few meters of snow overnight, but many Sarajevans could not be bothered even to clean the snow in front of their houses and apartment buildings. It was the Turkish EUFOR battalion which went out the first morning to clean the tram line while most Sarajevans remained sitting idly in their warm rooms content with not having to go to work or school and waiting for someone to free them from the snow. 

Before the war people across Yugoslavia used to joke about people from the West (including Slovenes), who seemed so alienated from each other that spouses asked for separate bills in restaurants. Now it seems to me that people in Bosnia and Herzegovina have gone too far in adopting some of those Western habits. Before, it was a matter of personal pride and prestige to contribute to society and help others, while now people find delight in cheating others and gaining as much as they can with as little effort.

Few decades ago, people cared more for their next-door neighbors then for some of their relatives, but today most people care little for their relatives and do not even know who their neighbors are. At the same time we seem to care so much about Kardashians, Brandgelinas, Messies, Ronaldos and other superficial celebrities of this shallow world. We have not only stopped caring for people around us, but we also stopped caring for ourselves.

Today, people go to work they hate and then go home to their families they do not know or understand. Instead of spending quality time with families, friends or neighbors, people spend hours on social networks gathering virtual friends who disappear as soon as the hit the “Shut down” button on their computers. Instead of doing something to actively improve their lives and environment and save this country from disaster, people waste their time watching endless soap-operas, hoping and “rightfully” expecting that someone else will come and improve their lives. At the same time those few who are willing to work honestly and hard to improve their lives are often being scorned and mocked by others. Defeatism and victim mentality have become the main name of the game.   

So where do I go with this blog and why is it somewhat different from my usual political essays? Well, I got somewhat tired with writing so much about Sejdic and Finci and this or that constitutional reform and this or that round of negotiations that still keep hopes of few remaining optimists that a solution will be found.

My point of the day is that if, whenever and however Sejdic-Finci is resolved, it will change absolutely nothing in this country as long as we do not change our views and attitudes towards our lives and bring back some of the old traditions into this “modern” society. Prolonged failure to adopt solution to Sejdic-Finci, a new EU coordinating mechanism or constitutional reform of the BiH Federation are not causes but consequences of real problems – lethargy and alienation of entire society from itself and the country it lives in (no matter how different groups may be calling “their” country). Political deadlocks, economic and social downturns are only consequences our collective choices. Inefficient and corrupt politicians, lethargic civic activists, intellectuals and media are only reflections of our own daily habits and attitudes. We are only harvesting today what we have sown yesterday. 

We may blame the international community for its experiments and double standards but again we are to be blamed why the international community had to come to rule Bosnia in the first place. Plus, blaming the international community will not help us because we cannot change the international community. We can only change ourselves. Some of us may be expecting from the international community to re-engage and fix our problems, but even if it happens (which is unlikely without a new war) we will again find a way to break and spoil those solutions and then demand new ones.

As long as we allow others to decide about our fate, we will not be happy with that destiny. Instead of waiting for others to change and adjust to our needs and expectations, we will have to start changing ourselves. Instead of sitting under an apple tree and waiting for something to drop into our lap, my family and I decided to join a harvest and pick some apples for our friends and ourselves. Apples were delicious, so sweet and crunchy, and friendship and camaraderie we shared with our friends made that experience so much richer and better. Not to mention the cooked beans and home made cakes.      

Author: Srećko Latal

Sejdic and Finci Vs. Sejdic-Finci

Absurdity reached a new level in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the October 1 high level meeting in Brussels. What was supposed to be the absolute last, final, decisive and ultimate chance for BiH leaders to agree on a set of conditions for continuation of EU accession process became yet another postponement accompanied with feeble statements and dubious half-solutions.

Representatives of multi-ethnic, minority and civic options in BiH, including both Dervo Sejdic and Jakob Finci condemned the seven-point agreement on principles of the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci ruling. Then over the weekend this criticism developed into an open media war between few leading civic activists and EUSR office in BiH.

Only few years ago the “civic option” were pampered darlings of coordinated EU and USA efforts aimed at restoring Bosnia’s multi-ethnic and civic (if possible Social Democratic) culture. So what happened in these few years and what happened in Brussels on October 1 to set former allies so far apart and against each other?

The “civic option” carries its own part of responsibility for this situation for it has for too long ignored the reality of BiH as an ethnically, nationally and politically divided society, insisted on its high moral and ideological grounds and nurtured confrontational and hard-line politics that sometimes equaled or bested those of national parties. After SDP squandered multiethnic and civic principles for a pocketful of mumbles such as positions in governments, institutions and agencies, the disgruntled civic option struggled to find a new civic champion to idolize and support instead of learning a valuable lesson – that poor execution can spoil even the best of ideas.

National parties reveled in the demise of the “civic option” because that option was always perceived as the only real threat for all of them. Yet its is questionable whether with all the bad blood and mistrust within and among those parties they can restore their cooperation sufficiently to be able to kick start the governance which has stalled and caved in on almost all levels, and bring the country back from the edge of abyss. Another question is whether there is capacity or even willingness for such a rebound since some parties, namely SNSD and to a certain degree HDZ, openly work to dismantle governance on the state level and in BiH Federation. SDA seems convinced that it will be able to fix all problems once it gets its mojo back, unaware or ignorant of the fact that BiH is psychologically, economically and socially so exhausted so that it finds itself on the edge of becoming a failed state, or something much worse. Not to mention that SDA itself contributed to this situation by focusing on employment (if not enrichment) of its cadre as much – if not more – as on the development of state, entity, cantonal and municipal institutions in which it was in power for at least 14 out of last 17 years.  

As for the EU, the latest Brussels meeting showed that BiH’s endless political tug-of-war has tired and disgusted EU technocrats to the point where they become ready to ignore the substance and welcome whatever possible form of the Sejdic-Finci reform they think they can squeeze out of BiH leaders. By accepting the latest principle agreement in Brussels, the EU has directly endorsed political positions of Croat and Serb national parties, indirectly renounced BiH’s existing constitutional framework and gave carte blanche to possible future constitutional arrangements which will be as incompatible with the most basic European principles and values as the existing Constitutional arrangement. In addition, by postponing its deadlines, softening its threats and choosing pragmatic over good solutions once again, the EU has, once again, missed an opportunity to establish itself as a political player rather than a pragmatic, technocratic cash-cow. 

With all this said, it is still unlikely that October 10 meeting will produce an implementable solution for Sejdic-Finci. Namely, agreed principles still leave several major issues unresolved, such as detailed division of electoral units in the BiH Federation. Even if such option is principally agreed at the next Brussels meeting, it is still highly dubious that sufficient number of delegates in the BiH parliament would accept and adopt such proposal by the end of the year. In other words, even a principle agreement on October 10 would not necessarily mean that such solution for Sejdic-Finci would pass through the BiH Parliament by the end of the year.

But BiH leaders remain far apart on yet another, maybe even more important issue – a new coordinating mechanism for EU projects – which will have more immediate and much bigger effect on everyday lives of BiH people. Without agreement on the new coordinating mechanism, Bosnia will in the next few weeks lose over 50 million Euros of IPA pre-accession funds, which would be redirected to other Balkan countries or regional projects. In addition, EU would probably suspend preparations of their IPA2 package which was planned to support important BiH projects worth hundreds of millions of Euros in the next several years. This means that even if by some miracle Sejdic-Finci is agreed by the end of the year and Bosnia’s Stabilization and Association (SAA) Agreement is activated, the EU would have little or no resources to implement it properly. The main problem with IPA funds is that at least some BiH leaders misunderstand their true purpose; to build local capacity to enable BiH to apply for bigger projects and capital investments in years to come. As IPA funds are used to pay for – among other things – EU consultants, experts and knowhow, BiH leaders remain uninterested while focused more on IMF and EC budget support, which goes into their own salaries.

Finally, educated by the example of Croatia’s former Premier Ivo Senader, at least some BiH politicians realize that EU membership requires hard work but brings only hardship for all those who have skeletons in their closets. With that in mind, most of BiH leaders seem to have decided to keep paying a lip service to EU accession process while doing their best to prevent and block it. Apparently oblivious to such attitudes, the EU and the rest of the international community seem determined to keep lowering the bars and searching for more pragmatic solutions – sinking deeper and deeper into BiH’s political quagmire. 


Author: Srećko Latal   

Sejdić i Finci vs. Sejdić-Finci

Apsurd u Bosni i Hercegovini je dostigao novi nivo, nakon sastanka na visokom nivou u Briselu, održanog 1. oktobra. Ono što je trebalo da bude apsolutno zadnja, konačna, odlučujuća i posljednja prilika za lidere iz BiH da se dogovore o setu uslova za nastavak procesa pristupa Evropskoj uniji je postalo još jedno odlaganje, praćeno slabim izjavama i sumnjivim polu-rješenjima.

Predstavnici multietničkih, manjinskih i građanskih opcija u BiH, uključujući i Dervu Sejdića i Jakoba Fincija, osudili su dogovor od sedam tačaka o načelnom provođenju presude Sejdić-Finci. Zatim se, tokom vikenda, ova kritika razvila u otvoreni medijski rat između nekoliko vodećih građanskih aktivista i Kancelarije Specijalnog predstavnika Evropske unije u BiH.

Samo prije par godina, „građanska opcija“ je bila pažena i mažena mezimica koordiniranih nastojanja EU i SAD, koja su imala za cilj vraćanje bh. multietničke i građanske (i ako je moguće socijal-demokratske) kulture. Dakle, šta se desilo u ovih par godina i šta se desilo u Briselu 1. oktobra što je toliko razdvojilo bivše saveznike i okrenulo ih jedne protiv drugih?

„Građanska opcija“ nosi svoj dio odgovornosti za ovu situaciju, jer je previše dugo ignorisala stvarnost u BiH, koja je etnički, nacionalno i politički podijeljeno društvo, te je insistirala na visokim moralnim i ideološkim osnovama i gajila je konfrontacijsku i beskompromisnu politiku, koja je ponekad bila jednaka ili nadmašivala politiku nacionalističih partija. Nakon što je SDP protraćila multietničke i građanske principe za pregršt mrmljanja, kao što su pozicije u vladama, institucijama i agencijama, ozlojađena građanska opcija se borila da pronađe novog građanskog prvaka, koga bi mogla idolizirati i podržati, umjesto da nauči jednu vrijednu lekciju – da slabo provođenje može da pokvari i najbolju ideju.

Nacionalne partije su slavile kraj „građanske opcije“ zato što se na tu opciju uvijek gledalo kao na jedinu pravu prijetnju svima njima. Međutim, upitno je da li, uz svo neprijateljsko raspoloženje i nepovjerenje stvoreno unutar i među tim partijama, one mogu da vrate svoju saradnju na dovoljan nivo, kako bi bile u mogućnosti da započnu upravljanje koje je zaustavljeno i blokirano na skoro svim nivoima, i da vrate državu nazad sa ivice provalije. Još jedno pitanje je da li postoji kapacitet ili čak volja za takvim preokretom, obzirom da neke partije, naime SNSD i do određene mjere i HDZ, otvoreno rade na rasformiravanju vlasti na državnom nivou i nivou Federacije BiH. SDA izgleda ubijeđena da će biti u mogućnosti da popravi sve probleme onda kada vrati sopstvenu harizmu, nesvjesna ili neupoznata sa činjenicom da je BiH psihološki, ekonomski i društveno toliko izmorena da se nalazi na ivici toga da postane propala država ili nešto mnogo gore. Da ne pominjemo da je sama SDA doprinela ovoj situaciji fokusiranjem na zapošljavanje (ako ne obogaćivanje) svog kadra isto toliko – ako ne i više – koliko na razvoj države, entiteta, kantonalnih i opštinskih institucija, u kojima je bila na vlasti najmanje 14 od posljednjih 17 godina.

Što se tiče EU, nedavni sastanak u Briselu je pokazao da je beskrajno političko tegljenje rata umorilo i zgadilo tehnokrate EU do mjere da su postali spremni da ignorišu suštinu i pozdrave bilo kakav mogući oblik reforme u domenu Sejdić-Finci, koji misle da mogu iscijediti iz lidera BiH. Prihvatanjem najnovijeg načelnog dogovora u Briselu, EU je direktno podržala političke pozicije hrvatskih i srpskih nacionalističkih partija, indirektno se odričući postojećeg ustavnog okvira BiH i dala je carte blanche, odnosno, odriješene ruke mogućim budućim ustavnim aranžmanima, koji će biti jednako nekompatibilni sa najosnovnijim evropskim principima i vrijednostima kao što je i postojeći ustavni aranžman. Pored toga, ponovnim odlaganjem roka, ublažavanjem svojih prijetnji i biranjem pragmatičnih nad dobrim rješenjima, EU je, još jednom, propustila priliku da se ustoliči kao politički igrač, umjesto pragmatične, tehnokratske krave za mužu.

Uz sve gore navedeno, i dalje nije vjerovatno da će sastanak 10. oktobra dati provodivo rješenje za slučaj Sejdić-Finci. Naime, dogovoreni principi i dalje ostavljaju nekoliko glavnih pitanja neriješenih, kao što je detaljna podjela izbornih jedinica u Federaciji BiH. Iako se takva opcija, u principu, dogovori na sljedećem sastanku u Briselu, i dalje je veoma sumnjivo da bi dovoljan broj delegata u Parlamentu BiH prihvatio i usvojio takav prijedlog do kraja godine. Drugim riječima, čak ni načelni dogovor od 10. oktobra ne bi nužno značio da bi takvo rješenje za Sejdić-Finci prošlo kroz Parlament BiH do kraja godine.

Ali, lideri u BiH ostaju udaljeni po pitanju još jednog, možda čak i važnijeg pitanja – novog mehanizma koordinacije za projekte EU – koji će imati direktniji i mnogo veći efekat na svakodnevnicu građana BiH. Bez dogovora o novom mehanizmu koordinacije, Bosna će u narednih par sedmica izgubiti preko 50 miliona evra iz pred-pristupnih IPA fondova, koji će biti preusmjereni na druge države Balkana ili na regionalne projekte. Pored toga, EU će vjerovatno obustaviti pripreme za svoj IPA2 paket, koji je planiran za podršku važnim projektima u BiH, vrijednim stotine miliona evra, u narednih nekoliko godina. To znači da, čak i ako se nekim čudom postigne dogovor o Sejdić-Finci do kraja godine i ako se aktivira Sporazum o stabilizaciji i pridruživanju (SAA), EU će imati malo ili nimalo resursa da to provede kako treba. Glavni problem sa IPA fondovima je taj što su bar neki lideri u BiH pogrešno razumjeli njihovu pravu svrhu; izgradnja lokalnih kapaciteta kako bi se omogućilo da se BiH prijavi za veće projekte i kapitalna ulaganja u narednim godinama. Obzirom da se IPA fondovi koriste da se plate – među ostalim stvarima – konsultanti EU, eksperti i prenos znanja, lideri BiH ostaju nezainteresovani i više fokusirani na MMF i budžet podrške EK, koji ide na njihove plate.

Na kraju, poučeni primjerom bivšeg premijera Hrvatske, Ive Sanadera, bar neki političari u BiH razumiju da je za članstvo u EU potreban vrijedan rad, ali da će ono donijeti nevolju za sve one koji imaju šta da kriju. Sa tim na umu, izgleda da je većina lidera u BiH odlučila da nastavi da verbalno podržava proces pristupanja EU i da čini sve što može da isti spriječi i blokira. Očigledno zaboravna po pitajnu takvih stavova, EU i ostatak međunarodne zajednice su izgleda odlučni da nastave da umanjuju prepreke i da traže pragmatičnija rješenja – sve dublje i dublje toneći u političku kaljužu BiH.

Bosanskohercegovačka savršena oluja

Prije par mjeseci moj prijatelj i kolega me je upitao za mišljenje o trenutnoj krizi u BiH. Poslije podužeg elaborata o rastućim političkim blokadama, sveprisutnoj korupciji i prevarama, raspadu ekonomije, zdravstenog, obrazovnog, penzionog i socijalnog sistema, zaključio sam da se BiH uistinu suočava sa najdubljom i najtežom krizom od kraja rata. Moj kolega ipak nje bio uvjeren i podsjetio me je na mnogobrojne druge krize sa kojima se BiH suočavala u protekle dvije decenije.

Kao građanin, novinar i na kraju politički analitičar, izbliza sam posmatrao sve te krize i još uvijek ih se jako dobro sjećam; Sjećam se februara 1997. kada je jedna osoba poginula a preko 20 povrijeđeno u napadu hrvastskih ekstremista na grupu Bošnjaka koji su posjećivali groblje u parku Liska u Mostaru; godinu kasnije se činilo da je BiH ponovo na pragu novog nasilja dok su se različite frakcije borila za vlast u Republici Srpskoj; u proljeće 2001 vojnici SFORa su izašli na ulice širom Hercegovine sa tenkovima i oklopnim vozilima da spriječe uspostavljanje nezavisnog hrvatskog entiteta; nakon nekoliko mirnijih godina tenzije su ponovo porasle 2006. kada su Milorad Dodik i Haris Silajdžić pomogli jedan drugom da dođu na vlast svojim radikalnim predizbornim kampanjama; BiH je opet bila na rubu raspada i mogućeg novog nasilja ponovo 2011 kada je Dodik zaprijetio sazivanjem referenduma za otcjepljenje RSa.

Svaka od ovih kriza sama po sebi zasjenjuje bilo koju od mnogobrojnih manjih ili većih kriza koje smo vidjeli u BiH u proteklih par godina dajući značaj inicijanom pitanju: što čini trenutnu krizu tako dubokom, opasnom i drugačijom. U narednim sedmicama i mjesecima namjeravam da iskoristim mogućnost novog UNDPovog javnog foruma „Nove prespektive“ kako bi otvorio ovo pitanje i istražio odgovore i moguća rješenja nekih od ovih problema. Ali, u svrhu započinjanja ovog procesa evo skraćene verzije mogućeg odgovora;

Mada je svaka od gore navedenih prošlih kriza možda predstavljala veću opasnost za BiH od bilo koje postojeće krize, te krize su bile neovisni događaji koji su se dešavali u vrijeme kada su institucije vlasti funkcionisale na drugim nivoima omogućavajući BiH da se provuče i prevaziđe te prepreke. Ono što je i bitnije, u to vrijeme je međunarodna zajednica još uvijek imala snagu, kapacitet , htijenje i autoritet da kontroliše i ublaži krizne situacije, dok su građani BiH – bez obzira na njihovo nacionalno, vjersko i političko opredjeljenje – tek izašli iz rata, bili puni nade i odlučni da stvore bolju budućnost za sebe i svoje porodice.

Većina od ovih elemenata koji su pomagali BiH da preživi prošle krize su nažalost do sada već nestali; Međunarodna zajednica se u velikoj mjeri isključila iz dešavanja u BiH očekujući da zemlja konačno krene naprijed vlastitim snagama. Zapadni zvaničnici – kako američki tako i evropski – su izgubili veći dio autoriteta koji su nekad imali nad lokalnim liderima, dok je lokalna zajednica postala podijeljena, ogorčena, rigidna, otuđena i letargična, bez volje ili sposobnosti da nađe put ka boljoj budućnosti.

Kao rezultat ove nove realnosti  u proteklih nekoliko godina se pojavilo ono što bi se moglo nazvati bosanskohercegovačkom „savršenom olujom“ – što je kombinacija različitih, paralelnih, ponekad povezanih a ponekad nepovezanih kriza koje počinju da hrane jedna drugu, stvarajući novu, puno dublju i opasniju krizu nego sve pređašnje.

Pored same situacije, i trend je taj koji zabrinjava. Za razliku od Kosova – još jednog balkanskog kriznog žarišta koje se često poredi sa BiH – BiH se nalazi u strmoglavom propadanju, bez ijednog lokalnog ili međunarodnog  aktera voljnog da zaustavi i promjeni taj kurs.

Može li se ova kriza zaustaviti i ako da, kako? Ja se nadam da će ova virtuelna debata proizvesti neke ideje koje bi ukazale na put iz ponora. Pod time ne podrazumjevam neke nove opcije za rješavanje pitanja reforme Sejdić-Finci ili neke druge ustavne reforme. Ja ne vjerujem da ikakve ustavne reforme mogu reformisati BiH. Umjesto toga, nama treba duboka promjena ponašanja ljudi u BiH – od političkih lidera do običnih građana, kao i svih ostalih segmenata društva. Moramo prihvatiti činjenicu da ne možemo promijeniti nikoga sem nas samih, moramo razgraničiti šta su uzroci a šta su posljedice trenutne krize i onda prihvatiti te posljedice kao rezultate naših predhodnih izbora. Konačno ako želimo bolji život, moramo se aktivno uključiti u njegovo kreiranje i prestati očekivati od drugih – bilo da su to međunarodni zvaničnici ili lokalni lideri – da to urade za nas. Sve ovo zahtijeva dubok i dugotrajan proces koji se niti može niti treba dogoditi preko noći. Ali kako bi se taj proces desio, moramo početi postavljati prava pitanja i davati konstruktivne i holističke odgovore, što sam siguran da smo još uvijek sposobni uradiiti.


Autor: Srećko Latal

BiH’s Perfect Storm

Few months ago a good friend and esteemed colleague asked for my opinion about the current crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a long rant about spreading political deadlocks, omnipresent corruption and fraud, disintegrating economy and collapsing health, education, pension and social systems I concluded that BiH is facing the deepest and most difficult crisis since the end of the war. Yet my colleague wasn’t buying it and reminded me of numerous other crises which BiH has been through over past two decades.

As a citizen, journalist and eventually political analyst  I have observed them all closely and still remember them all too well; February 1997 when a man was killed and over 20 injured in the attack of Bosnian Croat extremists on a group of Bosniaks visiting cemetery in Liska park in Mostar; a year later BiH again seemed on the verge of new violence as different fractions fought for power in Republika Srspka; in spring 2001 SFOR soldiers supported by tanks and armored vehicles took to the streets of Herzegovina to prevent establishment of a separate Croat entity; after several quieter years ethnic tensions run high again in 2006 after Milorad Dodik and Haris Silajdžic helped each other coming to power with their radical pre-election campaigns; Bosnia and Herzegovina appeared on the verge of breakup and possible new violence again in 2011 when Dodik threatened to call referendum on secession of Republika Srpska.    

Independently, each of these crises overshadowed any of numerous bigger or smaller ones which BiH has been through in the past few years, adding merit to the initial question: What makes the current crisis so deep, so dangerous and so different?

In the coming weeks and months I intend to use the opportunity of UNDP’s new public forum “New Pesrpective” to address this question and explore answers as well as possible solutions to some of the problems. But for the purpose of initiating the process, let me give you a short version of a possible answer;

While each of the abovementioned past crisis may have carried bigger potential threat for the country than most of the current problems, they were separate and independent occurrences happening at the time when administrative institutions were functioning on other levels, allowing BiH to limp along and overcome those “bumps in the road.” But even more importantly, at that time the international community still had strength, capacity, willingness and authority to control and mitigate crisis situation, while citizens of BiH – regardless of their ethnic, national, religious or political affiliation – were still fresh from the war, hopeful and determined to create better environment for themselves and their families in future.

Most of these elements which were helping BiH to survive past crises are sadly gone by now; the international community has significantly disengaged from BiH expecting it to move forward on its own volition. Western officials – US and EU alike – have lost most of the authority they once had over the local leaders, while local society became disenfranchised, divided, embittered, rigid and lethargic, unwilling or unable to find a path to a better future.

As a result of this new reality, over the past few years I saw emergence of BiH’s “Perfect Strom” – a combination of parallel, sometimes connected and sometimes completely unrelated crises which start feeding into each other, creating a whole new, much deeper and much more dangerous crisis then all those before.

In addition to the current situation, it is the trend that is equally worrisome. Unlike Kosovo – another Balkan trouble-spot which often gets compared with BiH - BiH seems to be locked into a downward spiral with no local or international actors willing to arrest the free fall and steer the ship towards calmer waters.

Can this be done and if yes how? Well I hope that this virtual debate will produce some ideas that would indicate BiH’s way out of this dire straits. By this I do not mean some new option for fixing Sejdic-.Finci or some other constitutional reform, It is because I believe that no constitutional reform alone will reform BiH. Instead we need a deeper change in the behavior of BiH peoples – politicians and ordinary citizens alike as well as all other segments of local society. We must come to peace with the fact  that we cannot change anyone but ourselves. We have to differentiate between causes and consequences of the current crisis and then accept those consequences as results of our own previous choices. Eventually, if we want better lives, we need to actively engage ourselves in creating that better life, and stop expecting others – international officials or local leaders – to do it for us. All this requires a deep and long-lasting process which certainly cannot (and should not) happen overnight. But in order to truly undertake such process we should start asking right questions and offering constructive and holistic answers, which I am sure we are still able to do.


Author: Srećko Latal