The Democratization Policy Council (DPC) from Berlin conducted a survey of public opinion in six countries of the Western Balkans on the role of external liberal actors in the realization of democratic and liberal values in the region.
As far as Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is concerned, the DPC sought interviewees for this research outside the cities that attract the most attention (Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar), and instead went to Stolac, Trebinje, and Tuzla.
“The picture was extremely negative. The state is losing citizens, with the exception of Trebinje, due to employment in neighboring Dubrovnik. People see the potential, but they do not see a way out or the potential to attract it. Even non-nationalist parties think that they are thinking more about the distribution of positions than about the agenda for a new social contract,” the survey results state.
As they stated, there is no hope left in the “international community”.
“Regionally speaking, the West’s reliance on Belgrade is considered bad for BiH, in terms of nationalist plans, but also any hope for democratic responsibility (let alone historical reckoning). There is frustration and confusion with the increasing Western investment in the primary beneficiaries of its own institutionalized dysfunctional, unaccountable government: party leaders,” the survey added.
This, as the DPC points out, accelerated the nationalist agendas of all those who hold them throughout the country, as well as separatism.
“Transparent in the case of the Republika Srpska (RS), thinly disguised and efficient in the case of the area of Herzegovina under the control of the HDZ and irredentist users in the neighborhood again, more transparent in the case of Serbia, but the most energetic – although supposedly friendly to the European Union (EU) from Zagreb”, the DPC points out.
The West, the DPC emphasizes, is perceived as an absentee landlord throughout BiH, uninterested in the lives of average citizens.
“Maybe there will be visits for taking photos, but there is no constant attention at the local level. Diplomats will meet with local self-government officials, but neither they nor donors are engaging strategically with local civil actors,” the DPC emphasizes.
After a quarter of a century of donor involvement, the DPC underlines, there is no local strategy – the donor finances X here and Y there, without a larger or coordinated cohesive picture, which is a phenomenon throughout the region.
“Interlocutors from Stolac discovered that local rulers can even reject the requests of United States (U.S.) ambassadors without consequences. The breakdown of civic initiative on ethnic grounds (in this case HDZ Croats against Bosniaks and Serbs) is perhaps the most severe here. Abuse of power by industry or other economic actors, usually politically connected, was evident at every station. Despite the frightening political, economic, and social environment, there were still nodes of initiative, positivity, and hope,” the DPC underlines.
But in most respects, they conclude, “the headwinds they face are strong, and individuals still try to engage to see few allies—so they consequently develop self-sufficiency where possible.”
The research is signed by Kurt Bassuener, Valery Perry, Toby Vogel, and Bodo Weber, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
