Democracy

After 12 years of deprivation of each citizen of the fundamental human right to elect and stand at elections in a democratic society, a political agreement was reached in the city of Mostar on 18 June, between leaders of the Party for Democratic Action (SDA), Bakir Izetbegović, and of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Dragan Čović, on holding the elections in this city. Thus, Mostar is no longer a ‘case’, at least on paper. Professor Suad Arnautović, Ph. D., member of the Central Election Commission, spoke to Interview.ba about reasons for scheduling the Mostar elections for December, unlike other places in BiH, what changes have been made through the recent political agreement, can a Serb, or a Croat like Željko Komšić (whom the HDZ deems an illegitimate representative) become mayor of Mostar, whether all the agreed items can be effected by the deadline, and whether we will have local elections this year or not.

Albania is currently reforming its judicial system. Many corrupt judges and prosecutors have already had to leave their posts. The reform promises far-reaching changes. This makes it the subject of domestic power struggles.

One of the most surprising aspects of the recent Croatian parliamentary elections held on July 5th, 2020 was the unexpected success of the Možemo! coalition of few smaller parties leaning to the new-left and green end of political compass. Although Možemo! gained only 7 mandates out of the total of 151 parliamentary seats, their success indicated that a movement based on grassroots activism and fight for green policies, feminism, workers‘ rights and anti-corruption agenda can be viable not only in Croatia, but also in other countries in the region such as Serbia.

That which the BiH political leaders had failed (or avoided) to do over the past 12 years ended in a matter of months: SDA and HDZ reached an agreement on elections in the city of Mostar. The political analyst Adnan Huskić believes that this agreement is the result of, above all, the pressure by the international community. Here he provides his views regarding statements by Dragan Čović, alternatives in Mostar, abuse of the voting procedures, and also answers the question whether the election would be decided by the voters or the counters.

After the Croatian election, significant novelties have appeared on both sides of the spectrum, including emergence of sizeable green force in parliament.

They talk about that time, about the summer of 1995, when they were children, when they had to pack their toys hastily in order to get themselves into safety from the Serbian troops. The attacks, the fears – the world seemed to stand still for them then. They talk about how it felt at that time when the then so-called UN safe area no longer provided any protection. How it felt when the hopes to get protection from the internationals from the hatred of the advancing Serbs, dissolved into thin air. At that time, when the international community folded in face of the violence overrunning the whole of Bosnia since 1992 and ultimately culminating in Srebrenica. At some point, as reported by one of the survivors, she understood that she did not have a father anymore.  

On Sunday morning, 17 May, at 4.30 a.m. the city begins with the demolition of the Albanian National Theatre in Tirana. Police officers storm the building that had been occupied by activists since July last year. Using teargas, they arrest twenty persons. Shortly afterwards, an excavator shovel hits the facade of the building. Theatre professionals and civil society actors had fought for two years for the preservation of the building, which lies in ruins now. The events testify to an authoritarian governance practice – against which protest is emerging.

  All the media announced: “An agreement about Mostar has been signed”, “Elections will be held in Mostar” – the news has been popping up everywhere. One would think this historic agreement would “bring back co-existence and democracy”, as the famous Bosnian movie song goes. But is this really the case?

Recent events from EU border, namely Greek – Turkish border show significant limits in protecting EU external border five years after emerging of migration crisis of 2015 and 2016. As discussed by many experts, such as Sergio Carrera,[1] divergence between rule of law set by EU and Council of Europe enforced by EU institutions and agencies, and security measures introduced and implemented by EU member states.   [1] https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-publications/eu-border-management-strategy-frontex-and-challenges-irregular-immigration-canary/