WAYS OUT OF THE BLOCKADE

Three Years After Dayton

AIM Banja Luka, 4 September, 1998

Three ethnic nationalisms have destroyed the society of Bosnia & Herzegovina, its basic institutions, and even those which are its historical values. The so-called national issue has acquired the proportion of an absurdity, it has become the question of all questions. Natonalistic political oligarchies have no need whatsoever to change the current situation in order to let normal and stable social life return to B&H.

The Dayton accords have put a stop to bloodshed, but hatred and intolerance persist. People are being used and they are persuaded to believe that joint life is impossible. Ethnic conflicts continue in various perfidious forms. Nobody seriously opposes them, and political parties are mostly ethnic and populist. If one looks upon the European world, one shall see that our way of development is going in the opposite direction of development of the modern European civilization. Our state and economy resemble a tired and neglected old nag which collapsed under the burden.

Such a situation cannot last long. How can it be changed?

One of the initial strategic objectives is making B&H a fundamental multifunctional community of joint life of three ethnic groups: the Bosniacs, the Serbs and the Croats. The basic problem of B&H is how to ensure fundamental conditions for survival of the citizens. This region was devastated by the war and belongs among the least developed in Europe. Social conditions are alarming: people are unemployed, they have no salaries, no pensions, no food, no place to stay...

Experience warns us that many nations found a way out of situations which resulted of wars with the assistance of the main lever - the state. Nationalists still expect the three ethnic groups to express themselves in their national and independent states. That is why they are obstructing organization of B&H as a joint state according to the project of the Dayton accords. So far, the only elements of the state that they have are: the flag, the currency and licence plates introduced by the High Representative of the international community. Who will join together and reconstruct the dismembered society if the main role in it is not played by the state with its legal norms?

Reconstruction of the economy and infrastructure is the main assumption of development of B&H. At the end of the third year after signing of the Dayton accords we are witnesses that reconstruction of the country practically has not even started, and even less has been done in organization of institutions of B&H.

A step further is establishment of economic, financial and market connections between the entities and the cantons. These connections should be assisted by preferential treatment to make them more productive and competitive. Should they be left on their own, the entities and the cantons can just wait to wither away. Besides, expert teams should be organized which will continously follow and study general trends of social developments and propose relevant measures.

Nowadays, the central problem is whether we are capable to economically, socially and politically rationally organize ourselves to be attractive and likeable to the world. The awareness about is has not grown yet. We still suffer from serious nationalistic diseases, which is reflected on fundamental human rights and freedoms. Relations prevail here which exist nowhere else in Europe. A German sociologist once cynically observed that Yugoslavs wanted to go foreward, but that they were looking backward!

We have an absurd situation nowadays in B&H: the Dayton accords have proclaimed that the three nations are constituent and equal, but none of them are even ethnic minorities in the other entity. The other nation in the other entity cannot perform even the fundamental political functions, it can do nothing but vote. Deputies who live in the other entity, either because they were banished from their native entity or because they have fled, and who were elected deputies in the elections, feel as if living in a foreign country. The authorities of the entity treat them as strangers. They would never have come here if it were not for the international community. Entities have not even amended their constitutions in compliance with the Constitution of B&H concerning rights and freedoms, and this situation persists.

Delays and sabotage of implementation of the Dayton accords in B&H will not end for as long as the consensus on joint life is not reached and for as long as progressive forces do not unite about the minimum program of construction of B&H and about overthrowing the national oligarchies and autocratic authorities. As long as people are hostages of the main culprits of the war - there will be neither real peace nor progress. Nowadays B&H is ruled by inverse political regimes whose leaderships are alienated and transformed into the rule over the people and the state. Although everybody talks about implementation of the Dayton accords, even the ruling national establishment, return of refugees and creation of multiethnic entities is not accepted. This is the problem of all problems.

No changes of the existing situation will be possible as long as those who are guilty for the current situation in which B&H is are not removed from power. The current holders of power are utterly discreditted. Only new social and ideological forces can pull the society out of this situation, with a platform oriented towards democratic and humanistic civilisation. Time has come for the Bosniac, Croat and Serb intellectuals to agree on joint stands and objectives, and not just to represent their separate entities and ethnic groups. People have endured serious trauma and suffering, time has come for new phases of history which should be filled with human emancipation.

Time has come for the stand to prevail that destruction of B&H as a state is not possible because its population is mixed and because of long tradition of joint life. The catastrophic unsuccessful attempt of division of the three national parties is sufficient proof that the ethnic platform must be abandoned.

A modern concept of development and new educated and professional protagonists of reform and modernization are necessary in order to find a way out of the present situation. Ethnic, religious and party particularities and conflicts in B&H are keeping the whole society under a blockade. If the ideas persisted of small, dwarfish and closed entities and cantons at the head of which would be the primitive political oligarchies which are not up to modern trends, the crisis will continue to until they sompletely wither away.

Dr Mico Carevic

(The author is a profesor of constitutional law)