The beginning of the 90s in the Balkans was marking an uncomfortable beginning for the then Yugoslavia. After Tito’s death in 1980, tensions within Yugoslavia were re-emerging, from nationalist groups calling for more autonomy, tensions calls to the declarations of independence of Croatia and later Slovenia.
Conflict and resentment would not stop there. In 1991 this discontent spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH, a country inhabited by Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Croats, would soon face the war. BiH Serbs threatened bloody war if the majority Bosnian and Croat communities tried to break away. The war started and the Serbs were taking control of most of the country, of course with the support of Radovan Karadzic[1] and under the leadership of Ratko Mladic[2], genocide took place in Bosnia against the Bosnian population.
This would later be called the greatest failure of the United Nations in Balkans, as the genocide of civilians took place in the area controlled by UN troops UPROFOR, who were stationed in the area called as a “Safe Zone”. UNPROFOR was deployed in BiH according to UN Security Council Resolution 819 with the aim of reaching an agreement between Serbs and Bosnians. The agreement was reached in 2003 which demilitarized Bosnians but not Serbs, and this turned out to be fatal for Bosnians.
Two years later, in 1995, Serbs killed and massacred over 8,000 civilians of the Bosnian Muslim community in Srebrenica. What happened in Srebrenica, was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II. Hundreds of Russians and Greeks also took part in the massacre on the Serb side. This whole event took place in the eyes of the United Nations mission UNPROFOR. The United Nations had made Srebrenica a safe haven for civilians, but this did not prevent Serbian soldiers from attacking the “Safe Zone” controlled by UN troops.
Now more than 25 years after this genocide, more than 1,000 troops from the Srebrenica massacre are still missing, and among other things, BiH is still fighting on its way to meeting the priorities of joining the European Union. BiH, after a five-year political stalemate, only last year managed to approve in Parliament the Rules of Procedure for the Stabilization and Association for the Parliamentary Committee, this is just one of the 14 main priorities that must be met on the road to the EU.
It is clear that the challenge for BiH is the passage of regulations in the assembly due to national and political divergences and as such for the EU its integration should be treated as a special case. Although it was thought that BiH’s integration process into the European Union would bring about community coexistence, a better economy and political stability, this did not happen. Apart from police reform, and visa liberalization, other reform strategies on the road to BiH’s EU integration have almost failed. The reform in police was must needed because the police were a factor in ethnic cleansing during the war.
[1] Radovan Karadžić was a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the president of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War, and was later convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
[2] Ratko Mladić is a convicted war criminal and a Bosnian Serb colonel-general and who led the Army of Republika Srpska during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Inter-ethnic tensions are still present, and ethno-political functioning seems to be still unstable. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most important step towards EU Integration is still considered the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and BiH in 2008, from this period things have stagnated.According to a recent study by the RePast project, the data show that the past is influencing the future and it is surprising how the consequences of the intergenerational war in BiH are being carried. Moreover, the report says, it is astonishing how the country is unable to break away from ethnic and nationalist narratives in many aspects of life.
According to a recent study by the RePast project, the data show that the past is influencing the future and it is surprising how the consequences of the intergenerational war in BiH are being carried. Moreover, the report says, it is astonishing how the country is unable to break away from ethnic and nationalist narratives in many aspects of life.
No progress is expected for BiH in the field of EU integration in the near future, only local political actors are benefiting from such a stagnant situation. Consequently, without systematic reforms and adjustments, it is futile to expect BiH to move forward. However, it is difficult to expect any significant shift because key political actors take advantage of such a situation and, thus, are eager to perpetuate the conflict. These are the assumptions that the authors of this paper had in mind when writing these policy recommendations.
The strategic approach of the integration in the Western Balkans by the EU, has been criticized several times here by the connoisseurs of this field, it has also often encountered political resistance across the region in cases where the EU uses its pressure for change preferences of the local political parties.
The integration of the Balkan countries with the troubled past, into the EU seems to be becoming a challenge not only for the aspiring countries, but also for the EU itself. The integration of these countries is necessary in the European Union, in order to avoid new conflicts in the region.
