The Unfinished Business of Building Bosnia-Herzegovina

The author contends that Bosnia-Herzegovina is facing a severe crisis of state stability, not due to dormant ethnic conflict, but because of a political elite that uses ethnic nationalism to maintain power and protect clientelist networks. The document highlights the destabilising actions of leaders like Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović, who use blocking tactics and threats of secession to extort the national government. It criticises the international community, specifically the EU and US, for a passive 'carrot and stick' approach and superficial negotiations that fail to deter unconstitutional politics, warning that the current trajectory could lead to the de facto secession of the Republika Srpska and the dissolution of the state.

• The primary cause of instability in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1995 is not an inherent ethno-national conflict, but rather the weakness of the state and a political class that engages in corruption, nepotism, and the abuse of power under the guise of ethnic interests.
• The consensus-based political institutions established after the war have created a system vulnerable to blockages and rule-of-law violations, which elites use to marginalise civil society and maintain power through patronage networks.
• Milorad Dodik and the Republika Srpska (RS) have consistently used blocking tactics and threats of secession, including a 2016 referendum and December 2021 resolutions to withdraw national government mandates in defence, justice, and security.
• Dragan Čović and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) have employed 'third entity' discourse and attempted to manipulate electoral laws to ensure absolute control over Croat seats in federal institutions.
• The international community's approach, led by the US and EU, is described as failing due to passiveness and superficial negotiations that offer declarations of progress without achieving actual change on the ground.
• External actors, specifically Russia and China, are attempting to weaken the West's influence in Bosnia by trying to abolish the role of the High Representative at the UN Security Council.
• Hungary has actively undermined EU efforts to sanction Bosnian nationalist leaders, with Viktor Orbán providing a 100 million euro aid package to the Republika Srpska in December 2021.

APA

Zdeb, A. (2022). The Unfinished Business of Building Bosnia-Herzegovina. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-unfinished-business-of-building-bosnia-herzegovina/

Chicago

Zdeb, Aleksandra. The Unfinished Business of Building Bosnia-Herzegovina. Green European Journal, 2022. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-unfinished-business-of-building-bosnia-herzegovina/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Zdeb |first1=Aleksandra |title=The Unfinished Business of Building Bosnia-Herzegovina |publisher=Green European Journal |date=22 February 2022 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-unfinished-business-of-building-bosnia-herzegovina/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{zdeb2022unfinished, author = {Zdeb, Aleksandra}, title = {{The Unfinished Business of Building Bosnia-Herzegovina}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-unfinished-business-of-building-bosnia-herzegovina/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }