Bosnian national flag
Since the now much discussed visit of Friday, (October 9, 2009), to Sarajevo, “Butmir,” of US and European representatives, (delegations led by James Steinberg and Carl Bildt respectively), many have asked is the prospect for BiH and its people better? Well it is looking better perhaps because Bosnia & Herzegovina is in the play-offs for the World Cup, having overcome more established national soccer programs such as Belgium and Turkey. Or, perhaps the respect for BiH on the global scale has an opportunity to rise since BiH was elected to the UN Security Council on Thursday, October 15, 2009. Rather than now being a subject of debate, BiH will also be sought out by other countries as decision maker and one vote of 15 on the UNSC. As for the “Butmir” meetings, well that is a different story.
A Defining Disappointment
According to my very well placed sources present, the Bildt/Steinberg trip to Sarajevo has been a defining disappointment. It does not bode well for BiH. What has been placed on the table is almost exclusively the agenda of those that would further divide Bosnia & Herzegovina, and ultimately reward obstructionism, not to mention genocide, within BiH and the region. Purportedly progressive reforms are to be left to sometime in the future.
Dividing up state properties is based upon the terminology that has been long urged by those who favor the further disintegration of BiH. The other issues to be placed on the table now can be similarly defined. We are told to believe that future talks, such as entity veto “might” be addressed later. Apparently it was proposed that the leaders of progressive Bosnian/Herzegovinian political parties should accept Milorad Dodik’s “gentlemen’s agreement” that he would not unnecessarily exercise the entity veto. There is no institutional or constitutional methodology but apparently one founded upon the trust of Dodik, (and thus it is at best ambiguous what happens even after Dodik leaves the scene, if he were even to be trusted now).
The approach does not seem very professional, but one directed at squabbling teenagers. On a more institutional level, there is no current opportunity left for healing BiH back into a more normal European state not defined by ethnic boundaries and festering nationalist homogony, regardless of ambiguous promises of EU integration.
Trojan Horse
The initial so-called constitutional reforms placed on the table at “Butmir” in the first round would on the surface now incorporate into the Constitution what has already been previously adopted and put into place in terms of enlarging central government competencies. However, this serves no further practical benefit, as such are already with full legal and practical application with not need for further constitutional incorporation. Rather, the motive is to have the BiH Parliament ratify Republika Srpska’s legitimacy and a regressive interpretation of the Dayton Agreement. Ultimately, in return for this largely symbolic step of incorporating already adopted institutional reforms into the BiH Constitution, Republika Srpska would be promoted to a new status even beyond the Dayton Accords and giving it further opportunity to undermine BiH’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Bad Medicine
Perhaps, it is not so much blame on Steinberg and the US for what they did, but rather that they have allowed Bildt now to co-opt both Washington and Brussels for a scheme that has still not been fully revealed, but has all the prospects of a visit to a doctor that keeps making the patient more ill.
Every time that Bildt has shown up in BiH, it has been bad news, at least for Bosnians and Herzegovinians. He betrayed Srebrenica, and thousands were murdered. He became High Representative and the Dayton Accords became a tool for the division of BiH. It should not surprise when Bosnians/Herzegovinians demand: “Next time, when Bildt gets off the plane, kick him in the ass and send him back. If Europe and the US get some of the shoe polish on their pants, they are not undeserving”.
“Kick Him in The Ass”
This statement might be something many Bosnians/Herzegovinians would say, with typical bravado, but it describes the appropriate response without the standard diplomatic language. Maybe some hyperbole is necessary to get the message across, outside and within BiH. This message though has history, common sense and political wisdom behind the “kick.”
It appears that the Bildt proposals at “Butmir” though even go against the grain of the European Commission’s statements on the critical matter of the “entity veto.” While the EC has determined entity veto as critical for BiH’s integration into the European family, the “Butmir” proposal has relegated it as a non-priority, or to a “gentlemen’s” agreement.) Bildt obviously has little inclination to see BiH accede to the EU and Sweden is not member of NATO anyway.
Sitting at the Table: “Koje Levat?” (Who is the Loser?)
It is not that I have a clear alternative proposal of what to do. However, given the option of sitting at this table or not, “no” is an the most appropriate answer. In view of how this table has been set up and the way that the cards have been dealt this time around, Bosnia & Herzegovina has already been predetermined the loser as soon as it sits down. Once we are at the table, we may not even be have the benefit bluff. The one play that we do have is not to give our signature on their paper or legitimacy to their past and future deeds. Our biggest concerns is perhaps not to offend EU or especially US political leaders; however the first priority should be to maintain respect for us, and if someone is offended by that, then something is already wrong with the whole set-up
Our best negotiating position at the table is before we sit down. There is an old American expression: before you sit down at the poker table, take a look around at the other faces already seated. If you do not see the “sucker” (levat) in the game then be weary that it is not you.
Embracing the Evil of Ultra-Nationalism, Ostracizing the Victim
When the leaders of BiH’s progressive political parties asked Steinberg why the US was going along with such a regressive proposal for BiH and acceding to Bildt, the response was that the Serbians “had the greater leverage.” It is evident that Belgrade has again been appeased. Having failed to live up to its minimalist commitments regarding Mladic and indicted persons and at least not to interfere with BiH’s statehood, they face a Europe willing to forget and embrace Serbian nationalism and its consequences.
Bildt has played a decisive role along with a US that again is willing to look away, including from its own avowed values. Given the option of sitting at the table with this Europe represented by Bildt and an America not playing for substance but expediency, it is best to sit out or just sit across the table alone with Dodik. Why give Bildt or others the discretion to play us into the dis-integrationists’ hands
Most Important Leverage is BiH Signature
Perhaps we have again shown ourselves too trusting. Maybe the political influence that some believed that we had in the State Department in Washington was not a mature assessment. We have long been victimized by our own illusions. Perhaps we were encouraged to believe that we shared values with those in Washington only to be told in Sarajevo that we do not deserve equal aspirations for a democratic, open and progressive society. Clearly Americans of Bosnian/Herzegovinian background and their friends must reevaluate and do more.
Bosnia & Herzegovinianas defended Bosnia & Herzegovina, realizing their state after a long absence. We did make our own history, centuries earlier and most recently. Yes, empires dominated, but we also were not lost. We have now also done well on the soccer field, and we did not need a foreign goalkeeper. We, Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and Jews have worked together to elect BiH to the UN Security Council, and the 10 year wait candidacy process has paid-off. We must defend out standing and respect the strategy patience and persistence.
