Bosnia and Herzegovina risks implosion
Audio 02:35
General view of the city of Sarajevo from the heights.
(Illustrative image) RFI / Sophie Guesne
By: Louis Seiller
3 min
By announcing the creation of an autonomous army for the Serbian entity of the country, the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs has taken a new step in his secessionist approach.
Mentioned everywhere, the risk of an implosion of the Bosnian state sows confusion in the country.
While some do not believe in a return to war, others fear the resurgence of the intra-community violence that bloodied the country just 26 years ago.
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In his grocery store located between a mosque and an Orthodox monastery, Khatidja does not hide his concern.
Since the end of the war in 1995, the village of this 39-year-old mother has been cut in two by an invisible border: the one that separates the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On the one hand, the Croatian-Muslim Federation, on the other, the Serbian Republic of Bosnia.
“
Here we live as neighbors between Serbs and Muslims, we talk to each other and we live well together. We have no problem, we live like normal citizens, she
says.
But when we listen to political speeches, we don't know what to believe, we are really and sincerely worried
.
I was 14 when the last war broke out and now some would like there to be another, but I really hope nothing happens.
"
Accustomed to provocations, the Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik recently caused trouble by announcing the creation of an autonomous army.
The high representative of the international community in the country spoke of secession and the existential threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Like Khatidja, many Bosnians do not want to believe in an implosion of the country.
“
We'll go to Germany (laughs)
!
I don't know, I don't even know how this separation would work.
Some think it would be better and that's the right thing to do, that it's going to be great!
But I am not sure that it will allow us to live better.
"
"Separate to end it!"
"
Despite the efforts of the international community, Bosnian society remains deeply divided.
For 30 years, the nationalist parties have not ceased to stir up tensions and the three communities no longer share much in their daily lives.
Ragana lives in Pale, the former capital of the Serbs during the conflict and located 20 km from Sarejevo.
This 39-year-old hairdresser approves of the idea of a parting.
“
I live in the Serbian Republic.
And why not make this separation?
It was the same with the war: they wanted their country and we wanted ours!
she cries.
Today, we don't talk much about these possibilities, and we hear about Srebrenica all the time.
It just sows more hatred.
We would have to separate to end it.
"
A throwback to the 90s is what many citizens fear in the Balkans, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Kosovo and Montenegro.
President Vučić's Serbia is accused of promoting its Serbian worldview and destabilizing its neighbors.
A dangerous policy which again raises fears for peace in the region.
This report near the dividing line inherited from the war can be heard in its entirety on our site in
Accent d'Europe
.
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Bosnia and herzegovina
Serbia