Protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014

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Protests in Zenica on February 10th

The protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called the Bosnian Spring , were directed against corruption in politics and administration and the high unemployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina . These were the first protests since the Bosnian War in which all ethnic groups in the country protested with a common goal. The protests began in Tuzla on February 4, 2014 and focused on the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina .

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Political structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (blue) with its cantons (different shades), the Republika Srpska (red), the Brčko district (yellow)

After Yugoslavia dissolved in 1991, war broke out in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995 . The reason for this was the different political interests of the three major ethnic groups: Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats. The Dayton Agreement of 1995 divided the country into a Bosniak-Croatian and a Serbian part, making the country a confederation of the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , each with its own constitution and, initially, its own police force and had their own military. You also have your own foreign policy; the Republika Srpska has special relations with Serbia and the Federation with Croatia. As a result, different interests manifested themselves and important development processes at the national level were blocked. After the parliamentary elections in 2002, the Croatian regions of the Croatian-Bosnian Federation were also declared autonomous, which further accelerated the fragmentation of the country. A collapse of the state as a whole has so far been caused by the High Representative of the United Nations , who exercises the actual power, the EUFOR's Operation Althea , consisting of 1,500 soldiers from 25 nations (as of 2011) (up to 2004 SFOR of around 12,000 soldiers), as well as the police force prevented by the EU. Public spending too was basically funded by international organizations. The international community has shown no interest in wanting to change anything in the status quo of the de facto division of the country. There is no complete sovereignty of the country. As a result, Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the poorest countries in Europe with an unemployment rate of over 40%. In order to tie the area more closely to the EU and to strengthen it economically, a Stabilization and Association Agreement was concluded with the European Union in 2008 .

As in much of the former Yugoslavia, youth unemployment is over 50% and private consumption has been falling for a number of years, while de-industrialization continues uninterrupted. The World Bank sees Bosnia and Herzegovina as one of the economies in Europe and Central Asia that are least competitive. In addition, the development is hugely inhibited by the extensive bureaucracy. For example, there are a total of 150 ministries for the ten cantons of the federation alone and the legal system is underdeveloped and fragmented. A domestic market is not sufficiently developed that one would actually have to serve an export market. However, many companies are not adapted to EU regulations and market conditions. The economy grew by only 0.5% in 2013, while 40% of residents earn less than in the past and around 50% fewer payments were made from abroad. A tenth of the population has less than the equivalent of $ 5 a day. Only 4% of GDP is reserved for social benefits. War veterans' pensions are a large part of these benefits. However, for political reasons, the state that has to save does not do so with the veterans, so it has to cope with these payments from other budgets. The EU Commission points out that short-term party politics and ethnic interests predominate, while long-term goals take a back seat.

In the run-up to the protests, the social situation had already worsened. EU aid payments had been cut by 45 million euros as Bosnia failed to reform its electoral law. A public company manager payroll had also become public. On June 5, 2013, the parliament in Sarajevo was also besieged once after a child had died. The government had been unable to come to an agreement in a debate about new identification numbers on ID cards, which was actually a debate about district boundaries, and a family that wanted to take their sick daughter Belmina abroad for life-saving treatment subsequently had no valid papers. The term “baby evolution” emerged, but it fizzled out.

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Burning government building in the canton of Tuzla

The protests began on February 4, 2014 in Tuzla , where four factories had to file for bankruptcy despite privatization. The workers demanded their unpaid wages. The protests in Tuzla turned violent for the first time on February 6, with 130 people, including many police officers, reportedly injured and a government building on fire. The protests then spread to the capital Sarajevo , Bihać and Mostar . The cities of Zenica , Bugojno and Cazin were added later . A total of 33 cities protested. In the capital, a fire was set in a wing of the presidential office. Interior Minister Fahrudin Radončić showed understanding for the protests and called on the regional government in Tuzla to resign and the police to leave the demonstrators alone, as the police themselves are poor. On February 7th, serious riots broke out in Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar, Bihać and Sarajevo and other government buildings were set on fire. Among other things, the archive of Bosnia-Herzegovina was badly affected and numerous historical documents of the country's history were destroyed.

On February 7th, the head of government of the Tuzlan canton Sead Čaušević and the prime minister Munib Husejnagić as well as all ten ministers of the canton Zenica-Doboj resigned. The Sarajevo police chief also resigned on February 10, as he said the police lacked authority. In addition, the demands of the demonstrators are now being met; The SDP and Bakir Izetbegović are demanding new elections from the SDA as soon as possible, with regular elections scheduled for October 2014 anyway.

Over time, the protests have subsided. It is known that 20 cities have created plenaries in which citizens exchange and discuss with one another. The first plenary session was established in Tuzla two days after the protests.

International reactions

The protests were closely monitored in neighboring Croatia , among other things because Croatia is a signatory to the Dayton Treaty . Stjepan Mesić , former President of Croatia , called for the Dayton Treaty to be further developed. He emphasized that the two entities would develop more and more into so-called "para-states". However, he condemned the violence that had broken out and warned that violence, looting and destruction were not effective.

The then Croatian President Ivo Josipović urged those involved to develop with the existing democratic structures. The Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić condemned the violence and called for talks. The Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović announced his visit to Mostar on.

A spokesman for the European Union's enlargement commissioner stressed that citizens have the right to demonstrate peacefully, but also expressed regret for the violence and called on all those involved to turn away from the violence and enter into dialogue.

The former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina , Christian Schwarz-Schilling , warned that the West, together with Russia and Turkey, must finally tackle the "completely unsolved problems" since the Dayton Treaty was signed. The "inability of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina" to function is still not recognized at all.

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Web links

Commons : Protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bosnia-Herzegovina: Biggest crisis since the war. February 8, 2014, accessed February 9, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Euronews : Unrest in Bosnia-Herzegovina is widening
  3. ↑ EUFOR Althea: Appraisal and Future Perspectives of the EU's Former Flagship Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU Diplomacy Paper 7/2011; viewed on October 18, 2012 (PDF; 655 kB)
  4. ↑ Arte: With open cards: The situation in the Balkans part 1/2.
  5. ^ Dušan Reljić: The Bosnian outcry. Tens of thousands protest in Bosnia-Herzegovina against incompetent, corrupt politicians. The EU and NATO could calm the situation down. They should stay out of politics. In: Zeit Online. Zeit Online GmbH, February 15, 2014, accessed on February 15, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Michael Martens: Protests in Bosnia: No man's land has burned down. The social unrest in Bosnia is the greatest since the war. For the first time, protests are being made across ethnic boundaries. In: FAZ. February 10, 2014, p. 2 , accessed July 29, 2015 .
  7. ^ Protests in Sarajevo: "Bosnia is in the air". In: derStandard.at. July 8, 2013, accessed December 20, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b Protests escalate: "Bosnian Spring is coming". The threat of factory closures has already driven workers onto the streets in several cities. In: Courier. February 7, 2014, accessed February 9, 2014 .
  9. ↑ More than 130 injured during protests in Bosnia. In the northern Bosnian city of Tuzla, workers' protests have escalated. Protesters and police clashed, stones flew, tear gas was used. In: Zeit Online. Zeit Online GmbH, February 7, 2014, accessed on February 7, 2014 .
  10. ↑ Demonstrators set fire to the presidential office in Sarajevo. The protest of tens of thousands in Bosnia against incompetent and corrupt politicians is escalating. Protesters storm government buildings, the interior minister expresses understanding. In: Zeit Online. Zeit Online, February 7, 2014, accessed February 7, 2014 .
  11. ^ Marina Martinović: Bosnia-Herzegovina's revolt against the government. In: Deutsche Welle online (dw.com). February 8, 2014, accessed December 15, 2015 .
  12. ↑ cf. Record of the condition of the archive and the depot. Commission: Sandra Biletic, Boro Jurusic, Elvedin Mizdrak; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Historical Social Science; Sarajevo, February 10, 2014 (pdf, lbihs.at)
  13. ↑ Bosnia: Two governing parties want new elections. In: Salzburger Nachrichten. February 9, 2014, accessed February 9, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Thomas Fuster: attempts to walk in grassroots democracy. In: NZZ. March 2, 2014, accessed March 10, 2014 .
  15. ^ Mesic calls for revision of the Dayton Agreement. In response to the unrest in Bosnia, the Croatian ex-president Stjepan Mesic called for the Dayton Agreement to be revised on Sunday. In: Small newspaper. February 9, 2014, archived from the original on October 6, 2014 .;
  16. ↑ Bosnia rocked by the third day of anti-government unrest. Protesters across Bosnia set fire to government buildings and fought with riot police on Friday as long-simmering anger over lack of jobs and political inertia fueled a third day of the worst civil unrest in Bosnia since a 1992-95 war. In: EuroActive. February 7, 2014, accessed February 10, 2014 .
  17. ↑ We have to take the initiative in Bosnia. In: Berliner Zeitung. February 12, 2014, accessed February 16, 2016 .