How to cross the threshold?

(oslobodjene.ba)

The time of mourning has passed, we have all been cheered up by the energy with which Halid Bešlić was sent off, and now it is time to return to those more difficult topics, to what remains for us in the everyday struggle to save something and to establish something in a way that makes things in this country different, nobler and less depressing. However, it is difficult not to be in a constant need to confront the darkest segments of our social life, because although light exists on the micro level, much is still darkened to such an extent that those who analyze and write something do not have much room for enthusiasm and sugary visions of reality. Simply put, one must constantly unravel the vast amount of ethno-nationalist deviation and its associated ideological, but also criminal octopuses, which lurk at every turn and when they get the chance, begin to strangle and ruin us. And even in the case of Bešlić's death, we saw an essential cross-section of what this community is. Regardless of the fact that many, both known and unknown, said their goodbyes in their own way, and that at least in some respects there was some mutual cancellation of differences, there was a whole spectrum of neuralgic points within it that showed how each of us, based on that one man, experiences and sees this country.

All these readings that have been expressed in this way undoubtedly show that there is no, and cannot be, a single vision of what we want from this country. And it would not be a matter of dispute if this were a matter of some pluralism of progressive opinions, of some dialectical anamnesis in front of which different positions confront each other, but the problem arises at the moment when, through the death of a man who meant and was a kind of symbol of goodness to the general public, traditionalist gossip, cheap patriotism, and consequently nationalist lack of measure and narrow horizon of vision begin to break through. Which brings us back to those antagonisms, the inability to step out of exclusivity as what distances us and keeps us in the chains of conflict.

Meanwhile, while we were still calling out to each other from the sidelines, Ursula came, she visited us and said everything is according to plan, we are, just a little bit away, on the verge of fully integrating into the community of European nations. So, just a little bit more, a few more steps. And we cannot be so pessimistic that this Brussels optimism does not touch our hearts. A threshold is a threshold after all. How long did it take us to reach the threshold? Now, the fact that we can stand on it for as long as we want and that it can be bigger than a mountain is a question for deep consideration, for our internal analysis and self-examination. Not to mention how long the bureaucratic procedures of Brussels' big brother have been holding us on a short leash, whether we want to or not. It is true that we can breathe more freely, we have been flourishing, so to speak, since the Laktaši are no longer the center stage of events, but in the shifting of forces, in the competition over who will sit on that hot seat, or which way the Vrbas will now flow, we see that little can be expected. The lover of his grandfather's horse and his grandmother's sutle announced that, look at the coincidence, he will start his new conquest campaign directly from Pale to be the first among the entity's young men. It remains to be seen whether the Palja episode means that we are returning to those settings from 1992 or whether this symbolic act has something to do with something else. Although there is not much to see here, if you look at how this youthful shoot sprouted and blossomed, we are in for real joy. In other words, we will listen to the same song, because we know: nobody can do anything to us.