There is complicated, more complicated, and there are the relations between Balkan nations. They say that anything is possible with required amount of hard work, commitment, determination and sacrifice. Settlement between Balkan nations – is it a realistic goal?
There are exceptions, but in general, there is a lot of animosity, intolerance, feelings of unsettled bills among these people. This is some wise understandable, being that reason for all these feelings – war, occurred not so long ago, and having in mind the strength and deepness of wounds that it leaves behind, in minds, hearts and memory of each nation. These wounds need extremely long time to heal, and even then, they leave external scar, proportional to damage that nation had suffered. And it is so hard to move on, mostly because of the feeling that justice isn’t satisfied. As for the conduction of transitional justice, if any nation think that they have been damaged in some way, or had been put in unprivileged position in relation to others, that will deepen negative feelings towards the opposite sides.
So, taking justice to sight is one of the steps in conducting reconciliation, but definitely not enough. The most important step in this process is that Western Balkan people understand its importance for themselves. And not only individuals, but the big majority of people. This understanding needs to get into collective consciousness.
Why is it so important for them (us) to reconcile? Well, mostly because society living in hatred, anxiety and spite, cannot make any progress. That is evident in almost every aspect of life in these countries. Such unfriendly environment isn’t healthy, and does not provide a space for normal life and headway. Bad governance, working for selfish interests instead of wellbeing of people, contributes to this non-prosperity. And even though this behaviour of ruling elites is obvious, they maintain in power thanks to the clash and confusion of citizens.
„Prolonged slavery and maladministration can so confuse and contort understanding of a nation that common sense and also judgement in him thin out and weaken, to be totally warped. Such disturbed people can no longer tell the difference between not only good from evil, but also their own benefit from the obvious damage.“ (Ivo Andrić)
It may not be possible for Western Balkan nations (in general) to love each other, at least not in near future. But people need to leave negative feelings aside, to look on each other’s as on just human beings, not as enemies. To cooperate and focus on important things such as lifting up the economy, reforms in education and jurisdiction, control of government and transparency of the budget, international cooperation etc. There will always be ignorant, extremist individuals, making excesses. But such thing must be condemned from society, not welcomed and supported. People must be shown concrete examples of projects imbued with mutual cooperation, which brought to realization of a set goal, useful for community or business. People should look behind to see that once upon a time, we lived in harmony, all together. And what set us against each other are devious lies and propaganda, disputes which could have been solved in a peaceful way. But that wasn’t in interest of those who shape our destiny. And now we all have our version of truth, some of which were built on lies. Some facts that support our truths were caused by someone’s lies and manipulations. Do we really have time to deal with these conspiracy theories (except if that is what we do for living), instead of living a life, to hate based on propaganda and served information, directed to us from people who misuse our trust. Don’t we all want to be able to honestly say that we are proud of our nation? That we are people who love our own, but have respect and tolerance for others. That we are people who overcome hard crises and manage to organize and recreate successful society. We must take our fate in our own hands.
Seeds of hatred had been put on Balkan, as from eternal, so as from external factors. Thought history, THE GREAT forces had never been unselfishly approaching to Balkan problems, and Balkan nations, when taking their suggestions, quasi in their on interest, had often been just instruments. There had always been forces who used Balkan’s antagonisms for achieving their own goals. Only strong rampart of Balkan solidarity could have confronted to them. Unfortunately, it never managed to maintain, and after every collision, Balkan people would come out more and more distanced. Isn’t it time for us to come out from the dark and begin to create instead of destroying. To realize what are our priorities: raising life standards or bickering with neighbors.
The only hope is that we will finally start to learn from our mistakes, and that all that we have been through will open our eyes to see that interest of small people isn’t in tearing and isolation, but in bringing together all related people, connected with common needs. And that development of society relations puts in front of us much bigger and more complied problems than quarreling with neighbors. As we in Bosnia can say ‘we are hungry in all three languages’. And cooperation is our way out from the dungeon.
I believe that coming generations, young intellectuals like me, are realizing this, and we have to work on bringing this attitude to people who might don’t see things so clearly. I have already started with promoting this insight, by presenting it in my local community, among young people. And I’m planing to continue with similar activities. We have to believe that it is possible, and not to crumble before obstacles.
The sooner we start to move in a right direction, sooner we will get where we want to be. As Ralph Marston once said:
„Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground.“
Author: Katarina Bošnjak
