A clearer destiny

Monsignor Pero Sudar, auxiliary bishop of Sarajevo, does not mince words to describe the parlous situation of his country over ten years after the end of the war. “Now the destiny of Bosnia-Herzegovina is far clearer. At the start, ethnic division had been accepted; people thought there were no alternatives to stop the war. Ethnic division had been suffered in the prospect of a new integration. Now, on the contrary, people realize that the process triggered by the Dayton accords has actually sanctioned this division. It is clear, in other words, that we have passed from separation into two entities into separation into two peoples. The Serbian Republic was assigned to the Serbian people and the Federation to the Bosnian people. The third ethnic group, that of the Croats, was reduced to a minority, though unfortunately without the rights that normally underwrite this status”. In this sense the responsibility of the international community is great. On the other hand, it’s not right to say that there was a religious war in Bosnia-Herzegovina or that the Churches still prevent reconciliation. Meanwhile the economic situation seems ever more critical. Point of encounter between East and West. Bosnia-Herzegovina was for centuries the fault line on which the Western and Eastern world met: the easternmost territory of the West and the westernmost territory of the East. The three ethnic groups of the country lived peacefully together till the war in the Nineties. Sarajevo was called the Jerusalem of Europe, because the three great monotheist religions lived there together. “If we are sincere, we must recognize – continues Bishop Sudar – that our people, to whatever ethic group they belonged, were willing and able to live together. No one can doubt that during this war people were exploited and made to be intolerant. In the same way in which the Dayton solution was imposed, a more ethical accord, and one better adapted to a lasting peace, could also have been found. Why wasn’t that done? 63% of the population of Bosnia-Herzegovina had voted in a referendum for the creation of a unified state. So it’s clear that the accord served to facilitate another operation in the Balkan region”. Do you refer to Kosovo? “Yes, of course. To be able to remove Kosovo from Serbia, an attempt was made to create a ‘new’ one in Bosnia-Herzegovina, thus compromising moral and ethical principles as well as international law”. Economy on the verge of collapse. The economic situation of Bosnia-Herzegovina is extremely critical. With an unemployment rate running at around 50%, poverty is obviously widespread. The cost of living is not all that different from that in Western Europe. Wages, however, are far lower. A blue-collar worker earns about 600 convertible marks (300 euros) and a bank manager about 1500 marks (750 euros). Perplexities are legitimate when one sees high-powered cars exhibited in dealerships or flaunted on the streets. One hears people speaking openly of mafia and organized crime. Besides the war, here too, enriched unscrupulous people. What aren’t there foreign investments? “No one is willing to assume the risk of investing in our country – says Msgr. Sudar – because our administrative political apparatus is a ‘monster’ that is unable to guarantee any stability or prospects for the future. The country’s factories (there were many) were destroyed during the war. Now no one has the money to reconstruct them”. Ethnicity and religion. What role have religions played in past years? “Religions – explains the bishop of Sarajevo – were an element that helped people to preserve their own national and cultural identity. During the Turkish period, that of the Austrian occupation and that of the Communist regime, the Croat did not say ‘I’m Croatian’, but ‘I’m a Catholic’ and in that way he made his identity understood. The same goes for the Orthodox and the Muslims. Religion, however, could also be exploited to convince people to fight for their own survival, using the religious convictions of believers or the convictions of non-believers as leverage. According to some data, for example, before the war, only 11% of the Serb people were baptized. During the war, on the other hand, all Serbs were united and willing to fight against the advance of Islam. Of course the war had nothing to do with the advance of Islam or with the claims of the Vatican. However, these arguments could be easily ‘sold’. The religious feeling could be exploited by those who did not believe (before the war they were all atheists). It’s not possible that a real believer could take part in a war like ours (because a person who believes cannot make war), but a ‘presumed believer’ can certainly feel himself obliged to fight an enemy. So it cannot be said that the Churches and the religious communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina made their contribution to the war or obstructed the peace process. It’s not true”.