Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Herzegovina
"Facing Our Fears",
Marko Prelec in Transitions Online
1 December 2009
Transitions Online
Bosnia won't collapse without its crutches, and the sooner they are
removed, the better.
Fourteen years after its foundations were set on an American air base,
Bosnia's constitutional architecture is being shaken to the core, and
many Bosnians - and outsider observers - are nervous. Two months
have passed since Republika Srpska, one of the country's two entities,
defied the authority of the High Representative, Bosnia's international
governor. Instead of backing him up, the European Union and the
United States are trying to persuade Bosnian leaders to adopt a set of
constitutional reforms that would propel the country toward EU and
NATO membership and allow the High Representative's mandate to
end.
But success remains elusive, and time is running out. The conflict
between Republika Srpska and the envoy, Austrian diplomat Valentin
Inzko, is frozen while the talks continue. But it will heat up sooner or
later. A solution must be found now.
Responsibility falls equally on Bosnia's political leaders and on the
international community. The members of the Peace Implementation
Council, the international policy-setting body that oversees the High
Representative, met last week in Sarajevo and took no action. At their
next meeting in February, they will have to act or risk Bosnia's hard-won
stability. Bosnia's parties will have to choose between enacting reforms
now or waiting until after the next year's election season.
There are several reasons Bosnia's leaders balk at the U.S.-EU reform
package.
Most Bosniaks want extensive reforms, especially to the state's
complicated and restrictive governance rules. Representatives of
Bosnia's three major ethnic groups must agree before the state can
make any decision - pass any law, appoint any officials - and this gives
the Serbs an effective veto power. Bosniaks, a majority of the overall
population, understandably resent this; Serbs have used their veto to
hold up important laws needed for obtaining visa-free travel to Europe,
among other things. So two of the three predominantly Bosniak parties
have publicly opposed what they call "superficial" or "cosmetic" reforms.
Still, the proposed reforms are important, and there is no good reason
to reject them. One, for example, makes Bosnia's constitution comply
with the European Convention for Human Rights. Another gives the
state the authority to manage the country's integration into the
European Union. Parties have every right to strive for reforms beyond
these, but that is no excuse for vetoing other improvements.
Many Serbs, on the other hand, like the current constitution and want
only minor changes. The oppose reforms that create a stronger prime
minister's post and weaken the veto powers in one of the parliamentary
chambers, fearing that this would strengthen the state and make it more
likely that sooner or later, the state will whittle away their autonomy.
This was once a reasonable fear, but Republika Srpska's autonomy is
now firmly entrenched. None of the U.S.-EU reforms reduces the Serbs'
protections in any meaningful way. Their votes will still be required for
any law to pass.
The real threat to Serb interests is the failure of the reform initiative. If
they reject even the minimal changes on offer, Serbs will confirm
Bosniak and international suspicions that they mean to sabotage the
state. And if the international community believes it must choose
between an autonomous Republika Srpsk and the survival of Bosnia,
there is no doubt it will choose Bosnia.
Serbs want minimal or no reforms, Bosniaks want a new constitution. If
they can agree to pass the few necessary measures acceptable to all,
however, the council will likely end the High Representative's mandate.
This is the sticking point: for many Bosniaks, it stirs fears that without
international supervision, their country will collapse and disintegrate.
And this awakens memories of the brutal war that took about 100,000
lives, most of them Bosniak. So the reform initiative has become a
hostage to the debate over the future of the High Representative and
his powers.
It is time to overcome these fears. The High Representative is not what
is keeping Bosnia together; the Serbs' defiance of his recent decisions
shows the limits of his powers. Bosnia will stay together because of the
absence of viable alternatives and because of a common expectation
for progress and a normal life.
Republika Srpska is strong enough to fight the High Representative,
but far too weak to secede from the state. Its fragile geography, cut in
two by the Brcko District; the complete absence of international
sponsors; its lack of armed forces and war-weary population all make a
serious breakaway unthinkable. Nor is a stealthy campaign of
undermining the state likely to bear fruit; if Bosnia stagnates and sinks,
the Serbs' fortunes will suffer with it. Its citizens may not love Bosnia,
but they are used to it and have years of experience collaborating with
their Bosniak and Croat partners on matters of common interest.
European integration will greatly strengthen that attraction.
The real danger facing Bosnia, ironically, comes from the international
community's indecision. Some interested states want to keep the High
Representative in office and reinforce him enough to impose his
authority on Republika Srpska; other states want to end his mandate
and move to a different, reinforced European engagement. The
temptation will be to split the difference, either by keeping the envoy's
office in its present, weakened form, or in a reduced, perhaps
nonresident mandate. Either of these decisions could keep Bosnia's
political process in a stalemate that would endanger the viability of the
state.
In either case, Bosnian habits of dependence will keep the country
stuck in a circle of mutual accusation and nationalist posturing. Serb
parties will pick fights with the High Representative's office hoping to
pick up nationalist votes, and Bosniaks will try to enlist it in their own
nationalist struggle with the Serbs.
Bosnia desperately needs two things: stability and responsibility. After
14 years, the High Representative can no longer provide either. The
EU together with NATO can more effectively buttress Bosnia's stability,
and has a strong UN-endorsed peacekeeping mandate. Ending the
High Representative's mandate will remove Bosnian leaders' favorite
excuse for inaction and nationalist provocation. Bosnian leaders will not
like this; they have learned to thrive in an internationally dominated
environment, which they exploit to their narrow benefit at Bosnia's cost.
It will take time to learn how to operate without international targets and
excuses; that time should start now.
Marko Prelec is Crisis Group's Balkans Project Director.
Transitions Online
Marko Prelec in Transitions Online
1 December 2009
Transitions Online
Bosnia won't collapse without its crutches, and the sooner they are
removed, the better.
Fourteen years after its foundations were set on an American air base,
Bosnia's constitutional architecture is being shaken to the core, and
many Bosnians - and outsider observers - are nervous. Two months
have passed since Republika Srpska, one of the country's two entities,
defied the authority of the High Representative, Bosnia's international
governor. Instead of backing him up, the European Union and the
United States are trying to persuade Bosnian leaders to adopt a set of
constitutional reforms that would propel the country toward EU and
NATO membership and allow the High Representative's mandate to
end.
But success remains elusive, and time is running out. The conflict
between Republika Srpska and the envoy, Austrian diplomat Valentin
Inzko, is frozen while the talks continue. But it will heat up sooner or
later. A solution must be found now.
Responsibility falls equally on Bosnia's political leaders and on the
international community. The members of the Peace Implementation
Council, the international policy-setting body that oversees the High
Representative, met last week in Sarajevo and took no action. At their
next meeting in February, they will have to act or risk Bosnia's hard-won
stability. Bosnia's parties will have to choose between enacting reforms
now or waiting until after the next year's election season.
There are several reasons Bosnia's leaders balk at the U.S.-EU reform
package.
Most Bosniaks want extensive reforms, especially to the state's
complicated and restrictive governance rules. Representatives of
Bosnia's three major ethnic groups must agree before the state can
make any decision - pass any law, appoint any officials - and this gives
the Serbs an effective veto power. Bosniaks, a majority of the overall
population, understandably resent this; Serbs have used their veto to
hold up important laws needed for obtaining visa-free travel to Europe,
among other things. So two of the three predominantly Bosniak parties
have publicly opposed what they call "superficial" or "cosmetic" reforms.
Still, the proposed reforms are important, and there is no good reason
to reject them. One, for example, makes Bosnia's constitution comply
with the European Convention for Human Rights. Another gives the
state the authority to manage the country's integration into the
European Union. Parties have every right to strive for reforms beyond
these, but that is no excuse for vetoing other improvements.
Many Serbs, on the other hand, like the current constitution and want
only minor changes. The oppose reforms that create a stronger prime
minister's post and weaken the veto powers in one of the parliamentary
chambers, fearing that this would strengthen the state and make it more
likely that sooner or later, the state will whittle away their autonomy.
This was once a reasonable fear, but Republika Srpska's autonomy is
now firmly entrenched. None of the U.S.-EU reforms reduces the Serbs'
protections in any meaningful way. Their votes will still be required for
any law to pass.
The real threat to Serb interests is the failure of the reform initiative. If
they reject even the minimal changes on offer, Serbs will confirm
Bosniak and international suspicions that they mean to sabotage the
state. And if the international community believes it must choose
between an autonomous Republika Srpsk and the survival of Bosnia,
there is no doubt it will choose Bosnia.
Serbs want minimal or no reforms, Bosniaks want a new constitution. If
they can agree to pass the few necessary measures acceptable to all,
however, the council will likely end the High Representative's mandate.
This is the sticking point: for many Bosniaks, it stirs fears that without
international supervision, their country will collapse and disintegrate.
And this awakens memories of the brutal war that took about 100,000
lives, most of them Bosniak. So the reform initiative has become a
hostage to the debate over the future of the High Representative and
his powers.
It is time to overcome these fears. The High Representative is not what
is keeping Bosnia together; the Serbs' defiance of his recent decisions
shows the limits of his powers. Bosnia will stay together because of the
absence of viable alternatives and because of a common expectation
for progress and a normal life.
Republika Srpska is strong enough to fight the High Representative,
but far too weak to secede from the state. Its fragile geography, cut in
two by the Brcko District; the complete absence of international
sponsors; its lack of armed forces and war-weary population all make a
serious breakaway unthinkable. Nor is a stealthy campaign of
undermining the state likely to bear fruit; if Bosnia stagnates and sinks,
the Serbs' fortunes will suffer with it. Its citizens may not love Bosnia,
but they are used to it and have years of experience collaborating with
their Bosniak and Croat partners on matters of common interest.
European integration will greatly strengthen that attraction.
The real danger facing Bosnia, ironically, comes from the international
community's indecision. Some interested states want to keep the High
Representative in office and reinforce him enough to impose his
authority on Republika Srpska; other states want to end his mandate
and move to a different, reinforced European engagement. The
temptation will be to split the difference, either by keeping the envoy's
office in its present, weakened form, or in a reduced, perhaps
nonresident mandate. Either of these decisions could keep Bosnia's
political process in a stalemate that would endanger the viability of the
state.
In either case, Bosnian habits of dependence will keep the country
stuck in a circle of mutual accusation and nationalist posturing. Serb
parties will pick fights with the High Representative's office hoping to
pick up nationalist votes, and Bosniaks will try to enlist it in their own
nationalist struggle with the Serbs.
Bosnia desperately needs two things: stability and responsibility. After
14 years, the High Representative can no longer provide either. The
EU together with NATO can more effectively buttress Bosnia's stability,
and has a strong UN-endorsed peacekeeping mandate. Ending the
High Representative's mandate will remove Bosnian leaders' favorite
excuse for inaction and nationalist provocation. Bosnian leaders will not
like this; they have learned to thrive in an internationally dominated
environment, which they exploit to their narrow benefit at Bosnia's cost.
It will take time to learn how to operate without international targets and
excuses; that time should start now.
Marko Prelec is Crisis Group's Balkans Project Director.
Transitions Online
| Bosnia's Catholics Nearly Gone Cardinal Rodé Notes Growth of Islam, Orthodoxy in Former Yugoslavia SARAJEVO, Bosnia, JUNE 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Muslim population is growing in Bosnia to such an extent that Sarajevo is a "practically Muslim city," according to Cardinal Franc Rodé. The prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life affirmed this when he spoke with Vatican Radio about his June 19-21 trip to the Balkans. The prelate stated that Catholics were the main victims of the war and many fled the country, heading to Croatia or far-away nations like Australia, Canada and New Zealand. He explained that many had their houses burned and others fled for their lives. Many priests and religious were killed, and churches and monasteries destroyed. "Numerically, they have diminished a lot," he said after his visit at the invitation of Cardinal Vinko Puljic. There are only 17,000 Catholics in Sarajevo, he noted, a city of 600,000. "In the Diocese of Banja Luka, before the war between 1991 and 1995, there were 150,000 Catholics; now there are only 35,000." An opportunity Nevertheless, Cardinal Rodé affirmed, the Catholics desire to remain there and offer ecclesial services, particularly social services and education and formation made available to everyone, Catholic, Orthodox or Muslim. In Banja Luka, Bishop Franjo Komarica is planning a Catholic university to be distinguished by interreligious dialogue. "The Church I found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, though numerically reduced, is a living Church, full of hope," the cardinal said. "[It] is a very motivated Church, and priestly and religious vocations are not lacking." Meanwhile, more than 100 mosques have been built in recent years, the prelate added. "There is, in fact, the will to Islamize the region of Sarajevo," as well as the will "to make the Serbian Republic an Orthodox nation." In Serbia, Cardinal Rodé noted, the government is constructing Orthodox churches. He observed how the leaders of that nation are today openly Orthodox. In this context, the Vatican official expressed his hope that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there will be "relationships of tolerance and, if it's possible, of respect and a certain affinity and collaboration." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8130042.stm |
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End of the road for mercy missions
Friday, June 19, 2009, 07:30
RETIRED bus driver Mick Plunkett has been forced to end his aid
missions to orphanages in Eastern Europe after suffering a spinal
seizure.
Mick Plunkett has visited the Balkans more than 30 times since
founding Bosnia Relief Aid and The City of Derby Humanitarian Aid
Convoy in 1995.
The groups were disbanded four years later, but Mr Plunkett continued
to travel to the area and estimates he has taken millions of pounds
worth of aid donated by Derby people.
But on a recent holiday to the Philippines, the 61-year-old suffered the
seizure, which left him paralysed for four days.
He was rushed to hospital before being transferred to specialist spine
unit at a private rehabilitation unit in Iloilo – where he remained for the
next three weeks.
He underwent gruelling physiotherapy but was eventually allowed
home on an aircraft fitted with beds to keep his spine immobilised.
Now recovering at his Alvaston home, Mr Plunkett said the experience
had forced him to reevaluate his life and make the tough decision to
stop the aid journeys.
He said: "For the first four days I was in immense pain and unable to
stand or even walk.
"I have enjoyed every minute of every trip. Seeing the children's faces
makes it so worthwhile. But due to my mobility problems, and the
threat of more seizures which could leave me paralysed, a decision
has been made to cease taking aid to the area after 14 years."
Mr Plunkett, of Burnside Street, was moved to act after watching
scenes of the aftermath of the three-year Balkan war, which broke out
in 1991. He said he felt he had to go out and help.
The enterprise grew over the years, culminating in the biggest trip last
year, which saw Mr Plunkett take more than 600 boxes filled with
sweets, clothes, toiletries, shoes, toys, bedding and medical supplies,
all donated by local schools, churches and companies.
Mr Plunkett, along with friend Brian Kite, 57, of Stanhope Road,
Swadlincote, drove more than 3,000 miles in a van that was fully
reconditioned for free by Derby Tyres and Derby Truck and Van Repair
Centre.
Mr Plunkett said he wanted to thank people that had supported his
venture over the years. He said: "Derby is a caring city with caring
people. It is a sad day."
Aid already collected by Mr Plunkett has been donated to the Balkan Aid
Relief Foundation, based in Lincolnshire.
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/End-road-mercy-
missions/article-1090631-detail/article.html
Friday, June 19, 2009, 07:30
RETIRED bus driver Mick Plunkett has been forced to end his aid
missions to orphanages in Eastern Europe after suffering a spinal
seizure.
Mick Plunkett has visited the Balkans more than 30 times since
founding Bosnia Relief Aid and The City of Derby Humanitarian Aid
Convoy in 1995.
The groups were disbanded four years later, but Mr Plunkett continued
to travel to the area and estimates he has taken millions of pounds
worth of aid donated by Derby people.
But on a recent holiday to the Philippines, the 61-year-old suffered the
seizure, which left him paralysed for four days.
He was rushed to hospital before being transferred to specialist spine
unit at a private rehabilitation unit in Iloilo – where he remained for the
next three weeks.
He underwent gruelling physiotherapy but was eventually allowed
home on an aircraft fitted with beds to keep his spine immobilised.
Now recovering at his Alvaston home, Mr Plunkett said the experience
had forced him to reevaluate his life and make the tough decision to
stop the aid journeys.
He said: "For the first four days I was in immense pain and unable to
stand or even walk.
"I have enjoyed every minute of every trip. Seeing the children's faces
makes it so worthwhile. But due to my mobility problems, and the
threat of more seizures which could leave me paralysed, a decision
has been made to cease taking aid to the area after 14 years."
Mr Plunkett, of Burnside Street, was moved to act after watching
scenes of the aftermath of the three-year Balkan war, which broke out
in 1991. He said he felt he had to go out and help.
The enterprise grew over the years, culminating in the biggest trip last
year, which saw Mr Plunkett take more than 600 boxes filled with
sweets, clothes, toiletries, shoes, toys, bedding and medical supplies,
all donated by local schools, churches and companies.
Mr Plunkett, along with friend Brian Kite, 57, of Stanhope Road,
Swadlincote, drove more than 3,000 miles in a van that was fully
reconditioned for free by Derby Tyres and Derby Truck and Van Repair
Centre.
Mr Plunkett said he wanted to thank people that had supported his
venture over the years. He said: "Derby is a caring city with caring
people. It is a sad day."
Aid already collected by Mr Plunkett has been donated to the Balkan Aid
Relief Foundation, based in Lincolnshire.
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/End-road-mercy-
missions/article-1090631-detail/article.html
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