BALKAN_MEDIA_&_POLICY_MONITOR;

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gojko Beric of the Sarajevo weekly "Svijet," looks in the September 21, 1998, issue of the Split weekly "Feral Tribune" at the failure of the international community to hinder the nationalists more effectively during the recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The collective governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called the international community is satisfied with the just concluded elections in this Balkan twilight zone. Only a day after this massive political exercise, The USA has garnered the participants with a bunch of congratulatory words. It probably knows the best what is good for the Balkans and what isn’t.

It seems though, that as far as the international community is concerned, there are no particular reasons for satisfaction. It could be said that it actually went through a defeat. It has lost another important battle against the nationalists, event though it threatened them for months, that they do not suit it and that they have to go. Still, the ruling national parties in both entities are have a victory party already.

Westendorp has made a number of serious mistakes ahead of the elections. By deciding that military hard currency savings accounts will be excluded in process of privatization, he has made the best possible service to Izetbegovic’s party, which immediately proclaimed itself as the protector of the interests of an enormous veterans group, which has, some say, at least 100,000 fake voters. He also did not publish the list of the 300 prominent members of the SDA, who use more than one appartment in Sarajevo. Also, the anullment of 20 candidacies, mainly of the Croatian HDZ, has again homogenized the supporters of this party. Their cry that the interests of Croats are threatened has probably drawn those Croats that were maybe ready to forget this cry.

Izetbegovic will feel quite safe when across himself he has people who represent Serbian or Croat interests. A partner that would represent multiethnic society would not suit him. More and more, Izetbegovic is proving that he wants to cement a system which is created on the basis of ethnic origin.He is convinced that he would be able to solve the Bosnian problem with moderate Serb and Croat nationalists.

The Bosnian leader rejects any comparison of his party with the SDS or HDZ. But , if tomorrow he is willing to create a Muslim statelet on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he will have greatest support from his sincere enemy Momcilo Krajisnik. Izetbegovic’s problem is that he thinks that the ethnic model of rule is better than the civil one.

Source: Split weekly "Feral Tribune," September 21, 1998

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