What happened to the ‘Bosnian Spring’? In February of this year, thousands of angry protesters in Bosnia-Herzegovina threw stones at police and occupied government buildings, accusing their politicians of corruption and incompetence. The country’s unemployment rate is over 40% (with youth unemployment at almost 60%), and the complicated political system – negotiated at an Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio in 1995 and designed to defuse ethnic tensions – is gridlocked and plagued by inertia.
The February protests began in the industrial city of Tuzla, but soon spread to other cities and frustration at the ruling parties crossed ethnic lines. The unrest marked the largest display of public anger in the small Balkan country of 3.8 million people since the end of the war. Regional government leaders in four cantons resigned their positions following the unrest, and since then the protests have quietened. However, the prospects for change seem muted, despite general elections due to be held in October.
Bosnia-Herzegovina hopes to one day join the European Union, though formal negotiations seem a distant prospect. One of our commenters, Denis, pessimistically argued that “Bosnia has no European perspective because they have their own internal disputes all the time“, adding that the political situation is still too fragile for much progress to be made towards EU membership.
Will Bosnia-Herzegovina ever join the EU? Or is the political situation still too fragile for progress to be made toward EU membership? Does the country need a new constitution? And what would be the benefits of Bosnian membership for the rest of the EU? JOIN the debate – http://bit.ly/1p9NahJ
The great question would be “Why the hell would you want to join the E.U.in the first place?”
You had the Bosnian Spring because people objected to the Fat Cat Corrupt Politician, the E.U. Politicians are many many times worse.
Why try to join an organization that many countries including the U.K. are striving to escape from?
To see some of the things European Politicians are getting up to see the Youtube speeches of the United Kingdom Independence Party Nigel Farage and make up your own decisions!