THE BOSNIAN-HERZEGOVINIAN RECONCILIATION

(NO ONE) WHO IS GUILTY?

AIM, SARAJEVO, November 18,1996

It was late March 1994. In a festive atmosphere the Sarajevo hotel "Holiday Inn" entertained the deputies of the Republican Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were about to constitute the Federation Parliament after the signing of the Washington Agreement on the Establishment of the Federation. It was for the first time during the war that the HDZ deputies came to Sarajevo after rather harsh clashes between the B&H Army and HVO.

The overall atmosphere was so tuned as to avoid every possible mention of the mutually inflicted injuries, while, at the consternation of the assembled journalists the SDA and HDZ deputies behaved as old-time friends, and not until-yesterday's enemies, as those thousands of killed did not exit. There was much hugging, kissing, hand-shaking, toadying, welcomes...

However, Miro Lazovic, a Bosnian Serb, President of the Republican Parliament broke the spell. When the deputies, as well as numerous guests, took their places, Lazovic shocked them by asking all the uninvited and those who had stirred up hate towards other nations in the past years, to leave the hall. Silence ensued. The assembled HDZ deputies felt embarrassed. Seeing that no one was moving, Lazovic became more specific and called Dr.Jadranko Prlic (then with no legal function) asking him in which capacity did he attend the session of the Republican Parliament. Ivan Bender (the HDZ deputy) responded by stating that Prlic was a representative of the Croatian people. However, the President of the Parliament was unrelenting and demanded that only deputies and officially invited guests remain in the hall, but not the President of the "Herzeg-Bosnia" Government, which was the function of Jadranko Prlic at that time.

In the end Prlic left the hall only to return a few moments later after the Republican Parliament brought a decision on its transformation into the Federal Parliament. Hence, he came back to the session of the Federal Parliament which was no longer presided by Miro Lazovic, but by Mariofil Ljubic, a Bosnian Croat.

It would be difficult to say that at that time Sarajevo welcomed the HDZ deputies with much enthusiasm. However, not much was held against them either. In the "Holiday Inn" hall it was even possible to witness an unusually cordial handshake of Prlic, who was said to have personally participated in the destruction of the Old Bridge, and a Bosniac journalist from Mostar. Later on, that journalist tried to "justify himself" before the colleagues by claiming that "he did not enjoy that handshake, but that life must go on".

And he was right, because the capriciousness of Miro Lazovic was short-lived. Soon Prlic would become the first Vice-President of the joint Government of the Republic and the Federation, and when early this year they were divided, he was transferred to the post of the Foreign Affairs Minister. Consequently, he was promoted, while Lazovic is today a rare sole Serb deputy to the House of Representatives in the Federation Parliament.

Two and a half years later in Paris, at the International Conference on Bosnia and Herzegovina, the task of lasting reconciliation was incorporated into one of the provisions of the final document. It was written down in general terms. "Reconciliation - to persevere in the reconciliation of the parties", states the Paris document.

However, it will difficult to translate this seemingly nice wish into Bosnian - Herzegovinian reality for a long time to come. Perhaps the leaders of the Bosniac people, rallied around the SDA may forgive Prlic for what he did. But the denizens of eastern Mostar still feel chills down their spines at the very mention of his name. Or, just a day after the Paris document, and thereby the undertaken commitment to lasting reconciliation, were made public, Television of the Republic of Srpska broadcast the news on the beginning of the trials of Alija Izetbegovic in Banjaluka on November 24. He was charged for "war crimes", which was, in fact, an answer of the Serbian side to the indictment of the Hague Tribunal against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

On the other hand, without true reconciliation, which doesn't have to mean the revival of the communist slogan on brotherhood and unity, it is hardly likely that Bosnia and Herzegovina will become a stable state, i.e. that peace will reign in it. Although the Paris document uses the term "parties", it is the question of reconciliation between the nations. For the time being, in the reality of Bosnia and Herzegovina the interests of these nations are expressed in three policies of the three leading national parties - the SDA, the SDS and the HDZ. Therefore, it is first necessary to find a way to reconcile these policies, as well as party leaders.

Alas, they still behave like cats and dogs. It is an irrefutable fact that, for example, although the war between the Bosniacs and Croats ended already two and a half years ago, Alija Izetbegovic has never been in western Mostar or any part of the territory called "Herzeg-Bosnia". If that is so, can he be really called President of the Presidency of the overall Bosnia and Herzegovina? Can he be called that if he doesn't feel equally safe in Grude and Siroki Brijeg, as he does in Sarajevo or Zenica. How will he then to go to Banjaluka tomorrow?

Naturally, his visit to these B&H cities also depends on the position of the ruling structures of the Republic of Srpska and "Herzeg-Bosnia". It is more than evident that for them Izetbegovic is not a person whose visit they would welcome. They do not want Izetbegovic because that could jeopardize their national monolithness they have developed during the war, and on the other hand President of the B&H Presidency represents a good alibi for further developing their own insecurity on the territories controlled by the B&H Army. For, as long as Momcilo Krajisnik comes to Sarajevo to the sessions of the Presidency of the state of which he is formally a leader, in a IFOR vehicle, Izetbegovic will do the same going to Lukavica. However, situation with Zubak is somewhat different as he has been coming to Sarajevo without any problems for two years now, and leaves it in a car with Mostar chequered plates. Interestingly enough, that doesn't seem to bother anyone in Sarajevo.

The Sarajevans have grown accustomed to trams covered with "chequered" flag also because the official politics never made an issue of that, as it never officially reproached Zubak for using the Croatian and not the Bosnian-Herzegovinian passports for his travels abroad. If the reconciliation is truly wanted, one has to turn a blind eye to some things. And the national leaders have to be the first ones to do it.

There remains one dilemma: to which limit should the choke-pears be served and whether in paving the road to reconciliation only the other side should make concessions. Can the Bosniacs believe in the intentions of the Serbs before the truth of Srebrenica is clarified? Or vice versa, will the Serbs trust the Bosniacs before it is determined which was and still is the actual position of the Serbs in Sarajevo? Someone has to answer for these things on both sides. Collective guilt should not be imputed to whole nations, but rather to those issuing the orders.

But, there will hardly be any reconciliation as long as the true culprits are hiding behind the interests of the people. Quite the opposite, they will do everything that is in their power to prevent it.

SEJAD LUCKIN