It is important to know that people are not only leaving Bosnia because for economic reasons, but also because they are afraid of the country’s political instability, Bosnian Serb Orthodox Bishop Vladika Grigorije told N1 in an interview Monday.

“I often meet people on the street here who ask me if there will be war,” the Bishop said.

“People are afraid their child might be killed, wounded or taken to a concentration camp. This is why they are leaving,” he explained.

In order to fix that, everybody has to face his own past no matter how difficult this may be, the Bishop recommended.  

“People try to run away from this confrontation and the truth, it’s a human characteristic, a weakness. Every one of us likes to hear how our ancestor was a good person. Sometimes we have face the fact that our great-grandfather was, at some point, weak and evil,” he said.

“It is very important for us to look at ourselves through our past for what we are, and what we would like to be like,” Grigorije said.

“We need to build a good basis for the future, which is the main goal, but without facing our past we will not be able to correctly steer ourselves towards the future.”

Bosnia’s recent conflicts have disturbed the fabric of the country’s unique society.

“In Bosnia, everybody’s religious holidays have always been observed and celebrated,” Grigorije said.

“This was something that could be called a true responsibility of Christians and Muslims who lived together. It was particularly important to respect the others’ holidays. Unfortunately, we have lost a lot of that in the recent turmoil,” he explained.