Bosnia Remains Hostage to Old, Obsolete Narratives

Despite that danger, Bosniak, Bosnian Croat or Bosnian Serb politicians and their affiliated media continue to confuse and frustrate both the local and international public by clinging to their conflicting, outdated and unrealistic narratives.

This internal political warfare is aggravated by shifting regional and global politics, dominated by both old and new disputes and rivalries. They are a reminder of how, in recent years, the political universe has split into local, regional and global multiverses, often built on one-sided perceptions and conflicting individual interests.

The stability of Bosnia, Balkans - and Europe - has been further endangered by the recent decision of France and the Netherlands to block the opening of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania.

This development has not only sent a dangerous message to Balkan leaders that EU enlargement - the region's only truly stabilising factor - is no longer available. It has also portrayed the EU as an inconsistent, untrustworthy and deeply divided actor.

A better understanding and eventual resolution of Bosnia's enfolding drama clearly needs new perspectives on the country's old problems. It also requires a revision of the old narratives, which may or may not once have been true, but have in the meantime grown obsolete and some even potentially destructive.

A centralised, civic-based republic:

In the first post-war years, the narrative of a "civic" state was strongly supported by the US and EU, as well as by Bosniak and Bosnian patriotic political options.

The main Bosnian Croat and Serb parties, still dominated by their war-time leaders, resisted the idea but then grudgingly accepted it under the influence of new, younger politicians...