HOW TO FIND THE EXIT FROM THE MOSTAR INFERNAL CIRCLES

Interview: Hans Koschnik, European Mayor of Mostar

AIM, SPLIT, March 26, 1995 In the past few days, the anniversary was observed of signing of the Washington Agreement and establishment of the Muslim-Croat Federation, which has, in the past year, passed through more crises than successes. The anniversary itself, probably for a number of other reasons such as the issue of UNPROFOR in Croatia, was "solemnly" observed at the White House, and the Federation sought a resolution for the crisis in a new agreement which was signed in Petersbourg near Bonn under auspices of the German foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, by the President and the Vice-President of the Federation, that is, by representatives of the Croat and the Boshniak-Muslim party, Kresimir Zubak and Ejup Ganic, respectively.

But, despite all the signatures and agreements, many believe that the destiny of the Federation which is constantly shaken by tensions and concflicts, will primarily be resolved in Mostar where both parties have accepted the two-year administration of the European Union. Khol and Kinkel entrusted this difficult task in this demolished and divided city, after a persistent request of the Croat and the Bosnian President that the Administrator be a German, to Hans Koschnik, a German politician who distinguished himself in rennovation of destroyed German cities after the Second World War (such as Bremen whose rennovation lasted for twenty years), but who is also a specialist for former Yugoslavia at the German Bundestag.

AIM: How realistic are the expectations that Mostar will resolve the issue of the Federation, and even pave the way to resolution of the problem of Bosnia & Herzegovina?

KOSCHNIK: I think that such expectations are too ambitious. However, it is a fact that if we do not achieve that the Croats and the Boshniaks, and later on the Serbs, live in the city together, then this will not succeed in the Federation either. But, there must exist a true aspiration for the Federation, and then Mostar could be the basis. But, to link the destiny of the Federation solely to Mostar and to expect that the problem be solved exclusively here is somewhat absurd.

AIM: The city is nowadays divided into two - the Croat and the Muslim part. There are almost no Serbs and "others" which used to form about 30 per cent of the population. Do you really believe that it is possible to overcome such a situation or your mission is just to assist in the normalization of life and avoiding new conflicts?

KOSCHNIK: There is no question about it that the conflicts in Mostar between the Croats and the Boshniaks had a character of a civil war. It is a war where it was known who shot at whom, who evicted whom from the flats, who took whom a prisoner or threatened in any other way. These are serious wounds which take incomparably more time to heal than when the enemy is "anonimous". And the consequences of civil wars, not only here in the Balkans, but generally, are long lasting. The USA, Finland or Spain took a hundred years each to get the upper hand with the consequences of their civil wars. Therefore, there is no sense in fooling oneself that any administration and any agreement can resolve the issues overnight. Apart from the ruins, there are human experiences which will for a long long time lay heavily on the situation. We who come from without, from Europe, as they tend to say here, we are not the ones who know everything better. We have come to help, but the citizens of Mostar are the ones who will ultimately have to form the life and the sirit of the city.

AIM: Are there any indications that this "spirit" of Mostar could begin to take effect for the benefit of the city?

KOSCHNIK: The majority of the citizens of Mostar are refugees. Either from Mostar or in Mostar. If all those who have left because they were threatened or did it of their own will so as not to have to shoot at their friends or neighbours, we would have much more of that "spirit", of the cohesive force in the city. But, nowadays, about 40 per cent of those living in Mostar are refugees. Not only those expelled from the Serb territories, but also Croats expelled from Central Bosnia or Boshniaks expelled from Croat territories. These people are occupying the flats of those who would wish to return, but I cannot replace one refugee with another. The question of refugees obviously cannot be resolved in Mostar, but on the level of the Federation, and this is one of the major tasks. These people, both Croats and Boshniaks, cannot be told - go to Stolac or Jablanica, but they must be told in Jablanica or Stolac to come back. And this is a political issue which is to be resolved at the level of the Federation. After the Second World War in Germany, we had 14 million refugees from Eastern Germany. But they knew that it would be impossible for them to go back where they had been expelled from, and they started to integrate into new circumstances very quickly. Here in Mostar, there are a lot of people whose homes are only 20 kilometres from the city, but they cannot go back. This is a situation which unfortunately causes frustration and does not create the spirit which could help the city find the exit from its infernal circles.

AIM: Both parties are ganerally full of complaints, dissatisfaction and criticism on account of the administration of the European Union headed by you. How are you satisfied with its operation?

KOSCHNIK: It is true that the Croats believe that I am doing something only for the benefit of the Muslims, and the Muslims think that I am doing favours only to the Croats. And about three thousand Serbs, as many as there still are, think that I am doing nothing for them. Obviously, this is something one must live with when mediating between different ethnic groups. There is no sense in saying, look what I have done for the West side, but I also did it for the East side. I saw to it that the Serbs be also included, that they also participate. The local high officials are aware of it all, but they do not wish to say so to their citizens, and I do not think that it is wise for me to keep speaking about it. There are also a lot of those in Europe who ask: Why should we give so much money for Mostar. There are other places in the world where there is plenty of misery and poverty, and I therefore, take care not to add oil on to the fire. People in the Eastern, Muslim part of the city have lived without water and electric power supply for nine months. But not only because of war demolitions carried out by the Serbs, too, although there is a tendency to forget that now, but also because they were cut off. I have finally managed to resolve this problem by having the explosives removed from the main waterworks. Now I have the following possibility: to thank the Croat Defence Council (HVO) for having finally taken away the mines or to say that I was forced to beg them to do it for nine months. I could think of similar situations on the Boshniak side too and show that some other problems could have been resolved with their cooperativeness much faster. Or, for instance, crime in Mostar has reached really drastic proportions, but there is absolutely no cooperation between the one and the other police, although in that way things could surely be better controlled at least to a certain degree. And this is another issue which could be resolved at the level of the Federation even before joint police is established. I claim that the criminals have united, but the police of the one and that of the other party simply will not cooperate.

AIM: These divisions are exposed the most concerning talks about a political solution for Mostar, as negotiations are usually called, and the opposed stances whether Mostar will remain divided into two parts or be a unique city. How do you look at this problem?

KOSCHNIK: We are trying to open talks on the future of Mostar with the leaders of both parties. It is a city of the citizens of Mostar and they should know how they will organize it. But, this decision cannot be reached by the European administration. Those who say that there must be two cities and nothing else, they are abandoning the Washington Agreements, but those who want to organize the city according to the previous principles are also abandoning these agreements. However, we are here to find a solution within a single city, and I will invest all my energy to help to see such an acceptable solution for both the parties be reached.

AIM: You are a representative of the European Union. What do you think about the so-called European responsibility for what has happened here?

KOSCHNIK: The European Union cannot be considered responsible for the war and the killing. But, European responsibility does exist, because, when Yugoslavia was dissolved, there were no convincing and firm stances which could have prevented some things from happening. The international community approached the problem at the beginning from different aspects - all the way from the Americans who believed that the Yugoslav federal, but not its political system, should be preserved, to us, Germans, who thought that the decision reached by Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia or B&H to become independent should be respected, as a legitimate right of their peoples. Looking for a joint stance of the international community and especially of the leading European states, lasted too long and the Western-European Union shares a part of the responsibility for not having been able to stop the war in the Balkans through all these years.

AIM: Are you still an optimist concerning your mission in Mostar? Do you believe that something can after all be done?

KOSCHNIK: Yes, I am still an optimist, but not in the initial time limits. This is a process which takes time, and failure would lead to new serious conflicts and destruction, and human tragedies. I still believe that both leaderships are aware of it and that they will not want that to happen. In this sense I am an optimist. President Tudjman and his authorities guaranteed to me that it is in Croatia's strategic interest that European administration succeed. Maybe some of the Croat leaders in Mostar will think twice why this was said both in Zagreb and here, but this is something I cannot be responsible for.

PERO JURISIN