The past week has been a whirlwind of cities, bus rides and people. We arrived after the five-hour bus ride in a rainy Banja Luka. Over the next day and a half we met with the OSCE mission branch, a local NGO that works with identifying missing persons and providing witness assistance in war crimes cases, and the OHR branch and were exposed to an entirely different perspective. Banja Luka is the capitol (and one of the main cities) of Republica Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of BiH. In the RS it is a lot easier to privatize and overall make decisions because the political parties do not need to work off of fear mongering with ethnic roots. There is a lot more development and progression in terms of centralized government, however this is not all as benevolent as it seems. After our meetings we got back on the big white bus and took the six-hour drive from Banja Luka to Mostar. The drive was more beautiful than I remembered the drive only two days before. We stopped at a waterfall, the top of a mountain that looked like the end of the world, and the source of the best mineral water as of the 1998 mineral water competition – all of which were absolutely stunning. Academically, however, I left the RS on Wednesday more confused with the situation in BiH, and only to become increasingly confused after our meetings in Mostar.
Once known as the most beautiful city in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mostar’s broken buildings and exposed stonework exist as open reminders of the ethnic conflict that existed here only fifteen years ago. The hillsides, which are all stone and green shrubbery, mirror the greenery that has grown within the buildings since the time that someone lived in the houses and now. On the other hand, the hotel we are staying in is a model of modernity with air conditioning in every room, streamlined furniture and showers with seven showerheads (that manage to spout only absolutely frigid water, but it’s the thought that counts). Mostar is stuck between its wounds from war, continuing conflict amongst Croats and Bosniaks and slow advances towards modernity.
Every few buildings throughout town is still in shambles, and the boulevard that served as the frontline of the gunfire in this city from 1992-1994 is still entirely in ruins (except for the trees that have sprouted amongst the stonework). The religious symbols and houses of worship, which were all desecrated during the conflict, exist on extreme scales. Overlooking the city from the Croat (catholic) part of town is a giant cross, reminiscent of the HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles. The bell tower of the Catholic Church stands almost twice as tall as any other building in the town. But the many minarets, which mark the mosques of the city, are equally prominent. The tourism agency is the most active of any of the other cities we have been to and the “old-town” market accepts euros and not convertible marks. The few buildings that have been rebuilt have been done so with the traditional style and also the modern flair that we also saw in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Perhaps the most stunning part of the city is the Old Bridge, a replica of the Turkish bridge from the sixteenth century that was blown up in 1993 and rebuilt in 2004. The highest point of the bridge is 21 meters above the river, and it was built out of stone from the same quarry as the original and in the same style. The bridge is one sign of the combined present and past of Mostar.
Mostar is by far my favorite city. It has the beauty and old-world feel of Sarajevo and the honesty of the field offices in Banja Luka. Today we met with the OSCE mission branch and the OHR branch in Mostar. Mostar is a unique city because it is under special jurisdiction. Essentially a battlefield during the early 1990s, Mostar was divided into six municipalities in 1994 as a part of a temporary statute to stop the violence between Croats and Bosniaks. In 2004, as a condition to become a candidate for EU accession, Mostar was united as one city under a new statute that was imposed with the Bonn powers by the High Representative. While this statute worked and kept peace for four years, Mostar has not had a major since November 2008 when the council could not come to a conclusion on who the major should be (the major is not directly elected in Mostar). This is an exasperation of the ongoing political conflict in BiH, which is very clear in Mostar because of its importance to Croats as the center of Croat constituent peoples in BiH and a clear link to Zagreb.
It is increasingly difficult to wrap my head around what peace will mean in this country. Each field office is extremely honest with us, which is wonderful, but it is also difficult to reconcile three differing opinions at the same time. There really is a three-sided story in BiH, to be entirely honest. No one group is in the right, and no one group (as easy as it may be to point fingers) is to blame for the conflict. What is necessary now is to find a viable way to find sustainable peace and return in this region in every sector. Unfortunately, the International Community, which in addition to all of the good it has done in this region also created and perpetuated a lot of bad practices, is planning to fully withdraw from BiH. I cannot imagine the state that this country will find itself in, when and if that does happen.
In any case, my time in BiH has been an even mix of eye opening, depressing and inspiring. I have hope for this region, but my hopes are becoming more realistic. Change in this region can happen, but it will take a lot of time. For change to occur baby steps need to happen, and as of now, there have been baby steps there just need to be a lot more.
In other news, I would love to hear from all of you, so please send me emails!
With love,
Lauren
No comments:
Post a Comment