Understanding Bosnia, Part One

In the immediate aftermath of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, the leader of a now defunct political party had the gusto to propose at a press conference in Sarajevo, that the country's national football team should be equally represented by the three main "ethnic groups" (Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs). His proposal called for three players from each ethnic group with two other positions reserved for minorities, or for those refusing to declare a particular ethnicity. The journalists at the press conference laughed him down from the podium, as did the wider public.

Despite what at the time appeared to the public like a bad joke, the politician's proposal turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and today, this game of "counting blood cells" (as some here refer to it), is applied in all spheres of life and across the country.

Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina is one country, two entities, three ethnic group and countless problems.

One of the reasons that Bosnia and Herzegovina remains, 13 long years since the end of the war, politically and economically unstable is that the majority of its citizens do not feel that this is their "homeland." Its people and politicians are still struggling to deal with the legacies of the past.

Two out of Bosnia's three so-called ethnic groups, the Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croats, have what they largely view as a "spare" country, Serbia and Croatia, respectively, for which they have been granted citizenship. Having no other options, the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), the ethnic majority, continually demand a more centralized and unified state. This ethnically divided approach to statehood has been thoroughly developed and patented by the opportunistic politicians of Bosnia and Herzegovina - particularly those who place the national interests of Serbia and Croatia above those Bosnia, as many of them hold dual citizenship.

In areas where Bosnian Serbs are the majority, Serbian flags, rather than Bosnian flags, are proudly flown, not only on official buildings, but also on churches and sport stadiums. Where Bosnian Croats are the majority, Croatian flags are the rule of the day.

Tellingly, when Turkey beat out Croatia at the EURO 2008 football competition - a game which took place on territory dominated by Bosniaks - the majority of sports enthusiasts celebrated.

Religious-ethnic reciprocity

Every segment of life in Bosnia, from culture to sports and education, is ruled by religious and ethnic reciprocity.

Government officials and company managers are selected primarily based on their ethnicity (though it should be noted that all three so-called ethnic groups are in fact southern Slavs) and political party membership, while their experience and managerial capabilities weigh in second.

Bosnia is one of those rare countries where the transportation minister is a medical doctor with no driving license, while an architect serves as security minister. When asked to name his favorite football team, a member of the Bosnian Football Union presidency, a Bosnian Croat, picked Croatia, naturally - and the wider public would expect nothing less. 

'Ethnic correctness'

All in all, in the destructive aftermath of the war and the miserable state of post-war reconstruction, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a poor excuse for a nation, in which education, knowledge and progressive ideas are unwelcome unless they carry with them some sort of "ethnic correctness."

Since the end of the war in 1995, due the agreement of the country's nationalist parties, all political functions are carefully divided based on ethnicity. Each official has his or her deputies from two other ethnic groups, and advisers, secretaries, bodyguards and other members of their enormous stuff hail from same ethnic group.

Unfortunately, the same is largely true in intellectual circles. Although these do not have written ethnic rules to follow as do their political counterparts, it appears that even theaters, sports clubs and, yes, the ever-popular Eurovision song contest engage in ethnic rotation, with ethnicity generally coming before talent.

The poverty of identity

All relevant parameters show that nearly half of the country's citizens are poor or living just above the poverty line; some 50 percent of families cannot subsist on their salaries. According to official statistics, unemployment is hovering at around 45 percent, but this is misleading, many work "under the table" for willing employers seeking to avoid taxes and the payment of health and social benefits. Some international organizations working in Bosnia believe that the unemployment rateis closer to 20 percent, but again, the numbers are difficult to confirm given the high level of black market job activity.

In 2008, when the Labor Ministry of the Bosniak- and Bosnian Croat-dominated Federation entity raided thousands of privately owned companies, some 60,000 "new workers" were registered by the owners under threat of heavy fines. More than 60 percent of Bosnians are employed in the service industry, while only 20 percent work in manufacturing and some 17 percent in agriculture.            

According to the Federation Labor Ministry and the Labor Ministry of the Bosnian Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska, nearly two million people (around half of the country's total population) live off social welfare, with almost half of the €900 million (US$1.15 billion) of each entity's budget spent on war veterans, invalids and the unemployed.

The remainder of the entity budgets goes toward the massive administrative expenses of maintaining dozens of governments and parliaments, and hundreds of ministers and their deputies. Since the end of the war, none of Bosnia's various budgets (entity, cantonal or municipal) have been able to focus on economic development, burdened with their own upkeep. Veterans and invalids continue to dominate the welfare program, while other potential users, such as poor families and disadvantaged children, are largely neglected. 

Authorities in the Federation entity, for instance, allocated nearly 40 percent of the 2008 budget of €912 million for social welfare. Though the war ended in 1995, oddly enough, the number of veterans and invalids increased in 2009.

Coming up short and under pressure by war veterans and demobilized soldiers to scrape together more funds (an election campaign promise), Federation authorities are robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak, redirecting money from other social programs, borrowing, raising taxes and dipping into VAT revenues intended for boosting the local economy.

And veterans and demobilized soldiers aren't buying into the global financial crisis argument. After all, Federation authorities did manage to raise their own salaries by 300 percent in the last two years, now earning seven times the average €400 monthly salary. This has not gone unnoticed by the public. In contrast, officials in the Republika Srpska entity actually cut their salaries by 10 percent in a show of solidarity with those depending on social programs – albeit before that the same officials had increased their salaries ten fold.

In short, Bosnia's nationalist authorities have become hostage to their own pre-election campaign promises, and corruption and opportunism continues to be the rule of the day.

The end result: After Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to be ranked the poorest republic in the former Yugoslavia.

The latest survey by corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) shows that corruption in Bosnia is massive and government efforts to tackle it have been disappointing. According to TI, all aspects of corruption, including bribery, fraud, nepotism and tax evasion, are prevalent.

The TI report said that Bosnia continued to fall further behind the rest of the region, blaming the negative trend on the "complete paralysis of government" in Bosnia.

TI's 2008 Corruption Perception Indexes (CPI) report, which measures perceptions of corruption among public servants and politicians, placed Bosnia 93rd, along with Lesotho and Sri Lanka, out of 180 surveyed countries.

Counting blood cells

In the meantime, attempting to base nearly every aspect of life on ethnic identity is a complicated engagement. While in the villages and smaller towns, there are clearer dividing lines, in urban, educated Sarajevo, things are not so cut and dry.

Here, mixed marriages and a greater sense of community prevail over ethnicity, in many respects. Urban Bosnian Serbs stuck around to defend the city during the siege, alongside Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks, all of whom considered - and continue to consider - themselves as Sarajevans, as Bosnians. For these people, who unfortunately do not form the majority and who also seem to be the most reluctant to get out the vote, the ethnic identity game is a major hindrance for the country's development, and a major distraction from more important issues such as the economy, employment and European integration.