Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Political Crisis: Are Words Going to Stay the Only Weapon?

Welcome:

  • HANNES SWOBODA, President of the IIP and former MEP

Speakers:

  • DELARA BURKHARDT, MEP and Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (via ZOOM)

  • ADNAN ĆERIMAGIĆ, Senior Analyst, European Stability Initiative (ESI), Berlin (via ZOOM)

  • ALIDA VRAČIĆ, Political Scientist and both Co-Founder and Executive Directress of “Populari”, a Bosnia-based think tank specializing in the European integration of the Western Balkans

  • VEDRAN DZIHIĆ, Senior Researcher at the OIIP and Lecturer at the University of Vienna

  • ALICE LOJIĆ, Political Science Student at the University of Vienna

Moderation:

  • LUKA ČEKIĆ, Project Assistant at the IIP

Content:

Twenty-six years ago, the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the war and laid the foundation of the constitutional and institutional architecture of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina consisting of two entities, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska. Today, the country not only still faces enormous challenges but is also going through one of the biggest political crises. Corruption is widespread, ethnonationalism is rising and influences the educational and political system on a large scale, infrastructure is lacking, economy is weak, the health-care system is insufficient, and pollution is extremely high.

Christian Schmidt, High Representative of International Community, warned in his report to the United Nations Security Council in early November 2021 that BiH is in imminent danger of breaking apart, and there is a “very real” prospect of a return to conflict. Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska’s strongman and member of the state-level tripartite Presidency, is threatening to re-establish their own army, intelligence service and a tax-unit, declaring state-level institutions illegal. This would lead to de-facto secession of Republika Srpska and collapse of legal and institutional architecture of BiH that has been developed since 1995.

What are the main triggers of this crisis and how did it evolve over the last several months? How will the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina look like in the next five to ten years? How does to youth perceive the current crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rising ethnic tension? Do younger generations feel nostalgic about Yugoslav times and how can one battle the problem of mass migration of youth? What about youth activism in Bosnia and Herzegovina? What can ease the rising ethnic tensions which are mostly backed by ruling politicians? What should the European Union do to support the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina? How do internal politics of neighboring Serbia and Croatia influence the political scene and situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina? How can the unity, integrity and statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina be strengthened?

These and other questions will be tackled in this upcoming event!