BBC: Is the Balkan Spring coming?

Government buildings were set on fire in Tuzla, Mostar, Zenica and Sarajevo, and protests were held across the country. Hundreds were injured, including police officers, and politicians condemned the "hooligans" for the violence - many are afraid, writes BBC analyst Tim Juda.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in 1995, and since then there have been no major protests over social issues. Until 2006, the creation of a functional BiH progressed. Since then, the country has been hit by a severe economic crisis. The unemployment rate is 27,5 percent. Old factories from the time of socialism are falling into disrepair. The privatization process is corrupt, and well-to-do people have bought companies to turn them into a quick profit, before declaring bankruptcy, writes Jude, reports Index.hr.

For years, Bosnians and Herzegovinans have been furious with their politicians. However, because of the war, the people became apathetic, fearful and cynical. The war years left such deep traumas that anger was repressed for fear of conflict, writes the BBC. The basic political problem in BiH is that the people live in a dysfunctional state, which is divided multiple times.

All Balkan countries, including Croatia, which joined the EU last year, are affected by the economic crisis and share many common problems. However, in BiH, a large number of people stopped hoping for changes. The anger had been building up for years and now it was bubbling to the surface. But will the protests change anything? Two important points: First, the social unrest in the summer of last year subsided very quickly despite the great enthusiasm. Second, until now the protests were mostly a Bosniak concern.

Analysts are already talking about the "Balkan spring", but it is still too early to say whether this year 2014 will one day be remembered as the year that changed Bosnia and Herzegovina, Juda concludes.