Urbanities,
Vol. 3 • No 1 • May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
96
the ‘ethnographically correct’ grid of post-structuralist concepts and methods, which makes it a
bit too conventional.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Connecting the Dots
Christian Gherasim
From afar, the European Union seems to be the place they all rush to get into. And that was the misconception I first
came to Sarajevo with. But for those deciding Bosnia’s future, the EU is much like heaven: everyone wants to go to
heaven but doesn’t want to die to get there. A flimsy analogy saying but one thing: the perks and privileges that
come with European Union membership are favoured by all, not so much the painful reforms and social
transformation demanded by the accession process. This may be a bitter pill to swallow for EU officials and
enlargement enthusiasts alike. Realising that the Balkans are not longer passionately yearning for Europe, not
willing to do whatever it takes to get there, is for many a malaise hard to whisk away. With last month’s low turnout
for Croatia EU referendum, this purely intellectual concept sported only in conference halls, gains more ground. It
shows the carrot- and- stick approach the EU assertively used in the Balkans as obsolete. This is something the
European Union has to get a grip on, as well as understanding that Balkan countries cannot be all dealt with in a
similar fashion. The region is simply too complex, with local enmities and expedient political interests chipping
away at an ever vagrant trans-regional consensus towards the EU. Out of all Balkan states, only Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Kosovo have yet to submit their EU membership application. If Kosovo is still a young state, highly contested
internationally and on life support from Washington, the same can’t be said about Bosnia-Herzegovina. Yet, Bosnia
has shown little national consensus in pushing for reforms and furthering the process of EU integration.
Keywords:
urban, civil society, Bosnia, Sarajevo
Early this year, as bitterly cold weather and snow was yet to sweep across much of the Balkans, I
flew into the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina to attend a conference on the country’s future and
challenges of EU membership. Nothing uncanny, so far; rather, just another debate between
students and specialists around the difficulties ahead. One might say a commonplace event in a
country so bound to European institutions via the key role the EU special representative to
Bosnia plays.
The conference started with the usual praising arguments, stressing the importance of
becoming an EU member state and the expected benefits. Yet, as the debate rolled on and
students began voicing their opinions, a different mindset slowly began to dawn. It shifted from
an unabated consensus on the EU accession to a cautious, sceptical, less enthusiastic approach. It
was new ground I was stepping on.
