The Balkans, a fragile hope of peace

The International Court of the Hague has rejected past February 3 the action whereby Zagreb and Belgrade have mutually accused each other for the genocides during the Balkan wars of the past century following the dissolution of ex-Yugoslavia. The verdict, not subject to appeal, awaited for over 16 years, confirms that neither Serbia nor Croatia have committed the crime of genocide, despite having carried out much serious ones, it finally seems to pave the way to the normalization in the relations between two of the largest Countries of Western Balkans. The decision – not without shadows – could shelve the war that in the years 1991-1995 caused thousands of victims, heralding the beginning of long-lasting peace and economic and political cooperation aimed at promoting the prosperity not only of these two Countries but of the Balkan region as a whole. Now that it’s clear to both parties that every crime should have a name and a face, the baton goes to the juridical system and to the political will of the respective governments, tasked with the responsibility of revealing the entire truth that for twenty years was in the shadows of political manouvres that followed the end of the Balkan wars. It is primarily the duty of Serbia and Croatia towards historical truth and especially towards the innocent victims of heinous acts of violence perpetrated in the heart of Europe as a result of hatred instilled among the various religions and ethnic groups, exploiting prejudice and aversions believed to be confined to the distant past of a country that for almost fifty years in the post-WWII period, ascribed itself the merit of having overcome such divisions through unity and fraternity on which reposed the foundations of recovered multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, emerging in the middle of two political and military blocs of the Cold War as a leader of the so-called “non-aligned” countries. The verdit of The Hague Court was expected and was also “predictable”, received by the representatives of the two governments with feigned satisfaction, probably in order not to admit that for years and for political reasons they had raised false hopes regarding the possibility of a revenge, missing the opportunity of renouncing the trial thereby avoiding, at least, consistent legal fees. A direct agreement – by means of a serious, objective examination of the conflict and of mutual responsibilities – could have been a risk and lead both stakeholders to loose the consensus of nationalistic constituencies, whose apocalyptic prophecies now envisage a further worsening of Serbian-Croatian relations. But Croatian and Serbian official politics in this moment is very different and it looks ahead, counting on the support of civil society in favour of Europe rather than on the obscure partners of the past, belonging the former secret and military services involved in wartime episodes, now left out of the system and linked to certain clerical environments which after the Balkan wars openly confessed their adherence to and protection of the most infamous war criminals, before their trial before the Court in The Hague. What do common people of Western Balkans hope in? Why had they followed with interest the mutual accusations between Croatia and Serbia, recalling the effective genocide, namely, the massacre of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995? Common people seem to finally turn their backs to the past with the full awareness that for many of them justice arrives too late and that those who wish to live in the Balkan region can do nothing but forgive and look ahead. And seek, according to the words at the announcement of the visit of Pope Francis in Sarajevo next June 6, to consolidate fraternity and peace, inter-religious dialogue, the friendship of these two people that went through so much suffering and who today, caught in the grips of a global economic crisis are experiencing the situation which would require just a brim of hope in a better life.