Interview with Ejup Ganić, former President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founder and chancellor of Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, professor
By: Zejna SY
1. In the European Union, there are approximately 2 million people who have their origin in Bosnia- Herzegovina. However, even though they are talented, they cannot develop their talent and be successful in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Can you enumerate some of the problems young people face in Bosnia, and why the situation is like that?
First of all, we are not well organized country; we have a complicated Constitution which generates enormous bureaucracy. So, to come up with any decision, it takes so much time and young people frustrated because as simply this transition from socialism to capitalism, of free market economy, has additional problems here because our government does not have simple regulations. If you want to register a company, there is no one stop shop, you have to go from one institution to the other. So, basically, our internal organization is very poor, and it is unfortunate that young people face so many obstacles. We look forward to some regulations imposed by the European Union, because they will help young people to exercise their own talents and abilities.
2. Bosnia-Herzegovina, in economical, political and other spheres is not developed as the members of the EU and constantly lags behind. You are employed in the sphere of education, as well as in the political sphere. What do you notice as a fundamental problem?
As I told you, our Constitution, our internal arrangements are complicated, we have too much government for small number of people, we need to streamline our system to become more efficient society. And that is only one problem. On the other hand, we have many smart people. Education system here is not bad, it is just a problem because it has many obstacles. The main problem here is that we do not have a working state. Dayton Peace Agreement imposed complications and due to this the state does not function.
3. Do you think that education is the main factor contributing to people outside Bosnia being more successful than people living in Bosnia? (for instance, Edin Dzeko became successful and famous after he started to play in Germany and the United Kingdom)
Let it put this way. Our people, who are educated, do very well outside Bosnia because they compete under the very defined rules. We have many successful professors, scientists outside Bosnia, sportspeople, because the free market promotes people like Dzeko. But I am speaking about thousands of engineers, doctors, lawyers, who are originally from Bosnia, but they do very well in Canada, the USA etc. That is because system over there really counts on performance and each of our citizens do very well, they have high performances and the system sort helps them. Here the system, bureaucracy etc. does not help young people and sometimes there is no need for such talents in terms of utilization of their own skills, abilities. So, for them, over there, it is bigger playground and more chances.
4. During the floods on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina, namely in Doboj and Maglaj, people were helping to each other no matter of their religion or ethnic background, they provided assistance no matter if the ones in need were Bosniaks, Croatians or Serbs. Is it possible that exactly this misfortune will open the doors towards the mutual understanding and unification?
There are no bad people, there are no bad nations, there is only a bad leadership. So the clashes we had in former Yugoslavia were imposed by the bad leaders. So, of course, people now missed their old good relations and this tragedy brought people closer because they faced the same problems. I am very optimistic for the future, people will cooperate if they are not blackmailed by their leaders. So, yes, this is something that sort of demonstrates that people are artificially protected to cooperate with each other, these floods somehow let politics outside, people showed their real face. So, I am optimistic.
5. Elections 2014 are close. What do you expect from elections? Will they bring any changes, mild or drastic ones perhaps?
Well, I want to believe that elections will bring changes and that people will be optimistic. These should be elections when we will test the ideas among the candidates and try to check how convincing their ideas are. Most important, they have to present the teams, people by names who will present this country and then we can check and see is there any hope. So, yes I want to believe that these elections will bring new qualities but it is really up to voters, will they precisely vote for the ones who are competent. The really bad thing is because some people do not vote. If you do not vote, then you pose a misery on yourself. It is an obligation for us to vote, how will we make a positive impact on our state? If you do not vote, then bad people will stay in the office forever.
6. Bosnia-Herzegovina is on the path towards the European Union. The EU will require various criteria for membership status, among many, will require stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. What do you think, is Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the current political and economic system, capable of fulfilling Copenhagen Criteria and enter the EU? If not, what should be changed?
Our internal Constitution should be changed and we should be streamlined as an ordinary European Union country, in that case we can fulfill the requirements. We have to opt on the European Union law on environment, on human rights, on financial systems, on taxation systems etc. Our people do very well wherever they are, why not doing very well here? Basically, if we streamline our internal political system, we can easily be part of the European Union and do well. We have so many successful people here, a beautiful country, plenty of natural resources, cultural heritage etc. why not using that in the right direction?
ST
