Since the 1990’s, the US has the most influence in Bosnia, and the country will look the way the US wants it to, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Human Rights at Regent's University in London, Dr. Neven Andjelic, told N1 on Wednesday.
“It was expected that they (the US) will be the world police at that time, but they themselves were indecisive on whether they should play that role or not. The Americans left it to the European Union to solve the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it turned out the EU was not capable of that,” Andjelic explained.
“Instead of them, the US did this. So, Bosnia will look the way the US wants it to, no matter what some other world power wants,” he stressed but added that the unpredictability of Donald Trump’s administration could have consequences for Bosnia.
He also touched upon the territorial dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, who are negotiating a solution which includes a possible swapping of territories and redrawing of the border between them.
“It is slowly emerging that the idea of redrawing borders may not be possible,” Andjelic said, reminding of the Badinter Arbitration Committee (the Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia), which in the early 1990’s issued opinions saying that the borders of the countries that emerged with the breakup of Yugoslavia should stand exactly where the internal borders of Yugoslavia’s republics had them.
“However, now suddenly the changing of borders is being mentioned. It is very dangerous to play with such a narrative,” he said, adding that if world powers agree on the borders between Serbia and Kosovo, the two countries will not be able to decide on much on their own.
The reason why Bosnia became interesting in international relations is the intensified presence of Russia in the country and the conflict between the West and non-liberal democracies, Andjelic said.
The professor also commented on the mass emigration of Bosnia’s youth.
“I was shocked when I was told that, with the departure of the youth, an entire town in Bosnia is disappearing. That is what the pre-election campaign should be focused on,” he said.
Regarding the assault on journalist Vladimir Kovacevic on Sunday, Andjelic said that there are people in Bosnia who think that they can do whatever they want to a journalist they do not like.
“I don’t understand the functioning of the justice system in Bosnia. If newspapers report some crime, why doesn’t the justice system react? If the report of the journalist is a lie, why don’t the journalists face justice?” he asked.
