Sunday Commentary: Why the Elections Will Not Bring Change in Bosnia and Herzegovina

More than 30 years have passed since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and nationalism is still the only effective fuel in all three constituent peoples' election campaigns. The international environment and relations between major world powers - the USA, Russia, China and the EU - as well as regional actors, such as Turkey and Israel, further complicate the security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Željko Pantelić, Photo: TV Vijesti
Željko Pantelić, Photo: TV Vijesti
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

In addition to the election campaign, which as a rule returns all parties in BiH to nationalist settings, regardless of their background, the regime in Belgrade also significantly contributed to raising the temperature, which poured gasoline on the already quite flammable terrain in BiH with its rhetoric and organization of the funeral of the finally convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

Almost all Bosniak politicians have used, in tennis terms, the service of the Vučić regime to play even harder on the national sentiment card, especially ministers and party leaders who are in an unenviable position and seriously risk experiencing a debacle in the elections.

Representatives of both the government and the opposition in Republika Srpska raced to pay tribute to Mladić. Not a single relevant politician in Republika Srpska could be heard criticizing, let alone condemning, Mladić for the war crimes he committed, starting with the genocide in Srebrenica.

The complexity of the situation in BiH is also confirmed by the duplicitous behavior of Croatia, which reacts harshly to the nationalist narrative of Belgrade and part of the government in Podgorica, while remaining silent or relativizing even the glorification of war criminals by the leaders of Republika Srpska, starting with Milorad Dodik.

In the new Sunday Commentary, we answer the following questions:

  • Why is the security situation in BiH the most tense since the signing of the Dayton Agreement?
  • Will the elections in BiH change anything?
  • Why are Bosniak political representatives disoriented?
  • Why has no relevant Serbian politician in Bosnia criticized, let alone condemned, the war crimes of Ratko Mladić?
  • What kind of game is Croatia playing in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
  • Why did the US change its policy towards Dodik and Bosnia and Herzegovina?
  • How is it possible that the US President's chief of staff receives BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović after she attended Ratko Mladić's funeral?
  • What is the position of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar towards Bosnia and Herzegovina?
  • What is Israel's role in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
  • Why is the EU restrained and avoiding making decisions about BiH?

Sunday commentary on Television Vijesti at 6:15 PM and 10:30 PM.

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