Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina has been busy with its first post-war census during the past two weeks. The results of this census will have enormous implications on the future governance and government of that country that existed and still exists of three main ethnic communities – Bosniak, Serb and Croat. This census will, by all accounts, be the crossroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the “ground zero” that will redefine relations within the country.
Will the census results show that Croats have in fact been the biggest victim in the Bosnian war of 1990’s? Will it demystify the Bosniak “victim syndrome”? While we know that the Serbian Republic (Republika Srpska) region was ethnically cleansed and the census results are sure to demonstrate that fact, will the census results also show that where the Bosniaks are today the areas have also been ethnically cleansed of non-Bosniaks and where the Croats are, are the only areas left in Bosnia and Herzegovina that are in fact multi-ethnic?
How reliable will the census results be? How politically charged and manipulated will the results be? How will the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina fare in this future that has all the hallmarks of seemingly never-ending unrest because it is a country in which the international powers have tolerated and helped fortify political entities, such as Serbian Republic, forged in genocide and ethnic cleansing, and has failed miserably at taking on and systematically dealing with the crimes committed by Bosniaks (Muslims)? (Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)