Rusting promises and a judicial marathon According to the data of the Hydrometeorological Institute of the Federation of BiH, Zenica in 2019 had the most polluted air in the Federation of B&H, and high concentrations of sulfur dioxide and dust were particularly pronounced. The metallurgical factory is the dominant source of SO2 and dust emissions in Zenica. The struggle of the activists of the association Eco Forum to improve the air quality in Zenica has been going on for twelve years. By Samir Lemeš
Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Citizens vote against corruption and nationalism Criminal ethno-clans have dominated the political scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina for three decades, and the destructive ideologies of the 1990s have never been placed ad acta. Many voters discovered the power of their vote at the local elections, in order to reject the ruling parties in urban centres. In Sarajevo, an alternative block won. The Serbian secessionists surrounding the obstructive member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik suffered a defeat in their stronghold Banja Luka. The voting was accompanied by massive electoral fraud. By Marion Kraske
Great interests of small people At that time, in May 2006, a renowned architect from Sarajevo Lidumil Braco Alikalfić published a significant text – an expert analysis – on the shortcomings identified by that moment and the “tragedy” that was unfolding primarily in Igman and Bjelašnica in terms of the natural degradation and lack of awareness of this issue, the wrong orientation towards “cementing” the mountains in favour of apartments, hotels and parking lots. By Zlatko Dizdarević
Attacks on Bosnia and Herzegovina „Croatia and Serbia are putting peace at risk“ Interview with Prof. Christian Schwarz-Schilling, Former Federal Minister and former EU High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The interview was conducted by Marion Kraske, Head of the Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Sarajevo
Citizen rage in Mostar - “The EU speaks to the mafia, but not to us“ Artikel For twelve years, the citizens of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian city of Mostar have not been able to vote. Thus, Mostar is the only city in Europe in which the right on elections at the local level has been systematically denied. Now there is an agreement between those very extremist representatives who have been preventing the people from going to the polls for years. The deal was also supported by the EU – and the citizens of Mostar are asking indignantly why they were not involved in the political decision-making processes. And why questionable deals are promoted by the state institutions. The agreement, or so the accusations, is only cementing the destructive ethno-nationalism in the country. By Marion Kraske
Perspectives The feminist edition of Perspectives Magazine, a regional publication published annually by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, aims to present the perspectives of Southeastern Europe to an international audience, to analyze global and regional trends and to provide insights into developments and political debates. The theme of this year's issue is gender and feminism in the Western Balkans, which is presented through four thematic units (State of the Art, Gender in Transitions: Revolution is Female?, Interventions and Resistance), which gives an overview of the context, perception of gender and the state of women's rights, and opens the issue of gender by social (re-)evolution and conflicts, initiatives and practices that contribute to the dismantling of patriarchy and very concrete practices of resistance in our countries. Through the issues of gender violence, political participation, economic relations, ecology, activism, physicality and from the perspective of female scientists, activists, journalists and writers, we focus on a kind of strategy for women's rights in the Balkans: is it based on the premise that we do not get tired and give up. This issue of Balkan Perspectives was written by women and describes the rights and fights for gender equality which last for generations in the Western Balkans.
Bodo Weber: For the first time, Izetbegović and the SDA legitimized the third entity project with an agreement with the HDZ on Mostar Senior Associate of the Democratization Policy Council Bodo Weber says that the agreement reached is not in for the future of Mostar or the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By Adin Šabić
Brutality as a new normality "It all started when the fake FB profile Fatima Hadzic USK called for protests. People were called to organize and return migrants, that is, to prevent their arrival in Velika Kladuša and surrounding areas." By Nidžara Ahmetašević
Refugee crisis in Bosnia: Political failure, violence and hatred The country, from which hundreds of thousands of people fled during the war from 1992 to 1995 and were accepted in Western European countries, is treating refugees increasingly inhumanely. They are confronted with ignorance and harassment. The blame for the alarming conditions is assigned to the EU and its rigorous isolation policy. By Marion Kraske
25 years of separatism Agenda coming ‘in the name of Croats in BiH’ relies almost entirely on the victimology/victorious narrative, with a populist aspiration to preserve the 'nation' endangered by majoritarianism in the Federation BiH. By Lejla Gačanica