Democracy

The Heinrich Böll Foundation has been active in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1999. As a German political foundation close in its orientation to Alliance 90 / The Greens, we advocate for fundamental values such as democracy, peace and non-violence.

Because we understand ethnic and cultural diversity as an integral part of a democratic culture, we attach great importance to the integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union, and in this sense we are committed to strengthening the rule of law and citizens' democratic participation the socio-political community.

Strengthening civil society, equal participation of women in social and political life, addressing the recent past and supporting democratic political dialogue are some of our key program objectives.

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Publications

Our publication series:

Positioning paper on the proposal of land swap as part of a normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo

policy
This brief examines the pitfalls of border change as a possible solution to the Serbia-Kosovo problem, and addresses the question of integrity of the international community’s involvement into this discourse. It does so by confronting value-based and pragmatic-realpolitik arguments, essentially arguing that partitioning Kosovo is neither a guarantee for normalization, nor a step towards the EU for both Kosovo and Serbia.
The Past is now

Perspectives - The Past is now

Publication
The Belgrade and Sarajevo offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, together with our editor Miloš Ćirić, have invited relevant voices to reflect on what was achieved over the past decades in the fields of documentation, memorialization, and processing of recent history. We wanted to learn which actors and factors determine the cultural context, who could deconstruct the hate narratives, how nationalism affects the culture of remembrance in the respective societies, and why the most brutal of experiences did not lead to a better understanding of common history in the region. In this volume, the role of the external actors is also critically questioned: what were Western donors able to achieve? Why has dealing with history never become mainstream despite the efforts of many brave, consistent and professional individuals? Is there even a need for a moratorium on dealing with the past so that new spaces for peaceful coexistence can emerge?
Who is afraid of gender Macedonia

Who is afraid of gender?

analysis
However, the goal is not to expose or mock these organizations but rather to better understand them and gain knowledge towards: human rights promotion for everyone and identifying how to oppose the hegemonic framing strategies, representation and discursive construction of women and sexual and gender minorities proposed by anti-gender movements.