https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/se ... 021-12-10/
US, UK, EU see the move as challenging the 1995 peace accord which put an end to the Bosnian war at the time, and oppositions in the Republic warned it might lead to new war.
I personally think, in the context of US and EU increasing tension against Russia and China, and with Serbia seemingly siding with Russia and China, reignited tension in this part of the Europe appears to be hard to avoid.
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
Probably for the better, as grievances and the quest for autonomy was among the causes of the whole damn war in the first place. The last thing we need are tensions flaring up again, if granting autonomy to Republika Srpska is a way to avoid it, then fine with me.
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
There are groups of people in this World that are hellbent on living in the past. Based on perceived nationality, ethnicity or religion. The Serbs are one of these groups. And no end to the troubles these groups make is in sight.
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
I know very little about this, but looking at a map, making a country out of that will be problematic. Is the plan to rejoin Serbia ?
Also, they will want Sarajevo, another big problem...
Also, they will want Sarajevo, another big problem...
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
Watched Quo Vadis, Aida? recently, a superb film about the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. It gives some insight into the conflict in that part of the Balkans, although it doesn't give any background leading up to the event, which is unfortunate -- but it is compelling viewing.
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
Aesma wrote:Also, they will want Sarajevo, another big problem...
That’s putting it mildly. I have been lucky enough to visit Sarajevo a few times together with a family friend that in a former life was a, honest to god, east-bloc, communist deputy mayor of Sarajevo in the 80’s. He’s a muslim, his wife a christian serbian.
They had to run for it when the war broke out, to pit it mildly.
They tell me it has gotten very polarized ever since the war. Before the war, you couldn’t always tell if a street was «muslim» or «christian»-dominated, and you didn’t always know, or care, what background your friends had. Now people are wearing outright religious uniforms, they don’t serve alcohole on muslim streets, and religious discrimination and tension is ripe.
While both sides has a responsibility, it is hard not to blame the serbs and their intense nationalism for this mess. They really haven’t changed their rhetoric much, and talking to people in beograd about this, young, educated, western-looking people, is like travelling back in time. To the 30’s or thereabouts. Scary.
Re: Serb Republic move to depart from Bosnia
The crazy thing about the Bosnia war is that, whilst a couple of generals were arrested and put on trial in The Hague, nearly everyone who actually setup and ran the concentration camps got away scott-free. And most live nearby them to this day, even in Muslim majority areas like Banja Luka.
Seems like a tinderbox...
Seems like a tinderbox...