№06 EU Policies Boomerang: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Social Unrest.
№06 EU Policies Boomerang: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Social Unrest.

Author(s): Bodo Weber, Kurt Bassuener
Subject(s): Politics, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: DPC Democratization Policy Council e.V.
Keywords: EU policy; BiH; social unrest; Tuzla; protests; FBiH; police; fragmentation; politicization; incompetence; political opportunism;
Summary/Abstract: The social discontent manifest in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), begun with violent protests in Tuzla on February 5, spread throughout the Federation, was a new phenomenon. But it was long in the making. As manifest in demands for non-partisan and technical governments, much of the general population has clearly lost hope that the country’s political system can represent them or deliver any meaningful change. Such misgivings are well-founded: the problem is structural and institutional, not simply a question of who occupies given offices. It is hard to see any solutions being arrived at institutionally – or the current political menu offering hope of meaningful change at the ballot box in October. The protests arose for legitimate reasons, were anti-incumbent and anti-establishment, not ethnic in nature, and appear to have spontaneously grown and spread. But existing political elites have sought to either redirect this anger or harness it, often with ethnic and ethno-territorial argumentation. This situation owes directly to the EU-led international posture of the past eight years. Hopes that the EU enlargement process would impel reform and progress by BiH’s political class were shown to be clearly misplaced by late 2006. Yet larger EU member states, especially Germany and France, as well as the European Commission and EEAS, hew to this failed policy to the present day, attempting to mold the Bosnian reality to their preference to avoid further responsibility and entanglement. The rules-free environment engendered by this policy allowed BiH politicians unlimited room for venality and irresponsible action (and inaction). Such a policy was bound to have a nasty confrontation with reality. It has finally arrived.

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