State alarm. Politically – that we are not doing enough on the European path, demographically – that we are becoming a country of old people. Not only do whole families leave us, but year by year the number of those who completely renounce Bosnia and Herzegovina is increasing. citizenship. This year, the data is especially loud – almost 100 thousand people gave up their passports of our country. Who is left with the state if there are fewer and fewer who fight for its prosperity?
Adnan Mujanović is one of those who left our country. A doctor who soon in Switzerland became the seventh doctor in Europe dealing with blood vessels in the brain. The reason for leaving – the healthcare system.
It’s much easier for him to work, he says – and it’s also easier for patients: “Everyone involved in this process knows what the next step is.”
Not the first, not the only one. The alarm that has been ringing for a long time will soon have no one to turn it off. Almost 100 thousand people renounced BiH citizenship. Last year alone, 2,147 people, mostly in favor of Western European countries.
“In informal conversations, more favorable labor and legal status, the right to own real estate, easier travel, easier studying abroad are most often cited as real reasons,” the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH states.
To not be BiH citizens, they are ready to pay a tax of eight hundred marks. It does not help the country because, in addition to losing the workforce – according to research – the departure of educated people costs us millions.
“The biggest challenge in the field of employment is to find a model for retaining the highly qualified workforce, whose departure, according to the Westminster Foundation’s research from 2022, costs between 650 and 800 million marks. Stopping the departure of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina is a challenge that must be met with quality employment policies,” said Adan Delić, Minister of Labor and Social Policy of the FBiH.
Politics in its own concerns and negotiations on how to solve the demographic issue when it is known that the political situation and uncertainty is one of the main reasons for the departure of entire families.
“BiH is the country with the largest decrease in population in the world – it’s a list where you don’t want to be the first,” says FBiH Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić.
The Federation, however, is taking a step forward. Until now, there was no strategic document for demographic development, but that should change soon. The working group is working hard, and the first recommendations for long-term success are expected soon.
The reasons are known, the warnings are clear, the question is one – on whom does the state remain? The forecasts are not great, but there is still time to solve demographic issues. If started immediately.
