Divisions and Multiplications

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I thought traveling through the Balkans would be a quiet way to end the trip. I wasn't even going to write a blog here (that's right, Joanne). Fortunately, or unfortunately, I am shocked and awed by how deeply the war has wounded this region.

Being the powder keg that ignited WWI, Sarajevo is a microcosm that showcases the complexities in the Balkans. Over the centuries, people are forced to take on different religious, cultural, and political identities. Orthodox, Catholicism, and Islam are practiced on the same street. Austro-Hungarian, Turkish, and Communism (let's call it a type of culture for a moment) crafted the city into distinct neighborhoods. Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats all want a distinct homeland of their own. The demarcation of the Yugoslavs let to the polarisation of each other, as everyone strives to hold on to these man made differences. People are divided; conflicts are multiplied.

After the death of Yugoslavia president Tito, everybody declared independence, with 'ethnic' purity as the goal. Thus began the Balkan wars in 1991, during which Sarajevo was under siege by Serbian forces for four years. Buildings are still adorned with bullet holes and artillery shell marks, reminding generations to come the cost of independence. Nationalism is ever entrenched, with ethnic and religious segregation a societal norm. Bosnians dislike Serbs in Sarajevo, Croats dislike Bosnians in Mostar, and Serbs dislike Croats everywhere else, all in the same country. That is why the Dayton agreement set up three presidents in Bosnia; Bosnian, Serbia, and Croat, each rotating every eight months to be the president of the office of the presidency.

Yugoslavia is now artificially divided into states loosely based on nationalities, a goal that everyone wanted, a goal that everyone paid dearly for. All parties, including the UN, could be blamed for the war casualties, genocides, and ethnic cleansing. Then again, no one wins in finger pointing, because everyone did something terrible sometime ago. The region is somewhat stable, for now, but the root of the problem is still omnipresent. After walking through tense neighborhoods, I feel that armed conflict could easily start again. As history attests, artificial categorisation of people and forced indoctrination of the minds will disrupt the natural flow of human nature, culture, and society.

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Photos

Bosnian Flag
History of the flag is filled with weapons of mass destruction

Reminder
One of the many reminders of the war

Shell Shocked
Sarajevo craftsman have converted these artillery shells into works of art

Sarajevo Rose
Also known as the place where a shell have killed a Bosnian

Down Town Sarajevo
It's still filled with war wounds

Sarajevo Story
One of many buildings not yet, or probably will never be, renovated

Mostar
The war here was between Bosians and Croats, or better put, Muslims and Catholics

Modern Living
For some reason, half of the building is not renovated, thus the bullet holes from 15 years ago are still very apparent

Ethnic Tension
The mosque in the Croat part of Mostar has a neo-nazi symbol...tension is still high, very high

Pick of the Litter
Only one floor of this apartment complex in Mostar is inhabitable

Call of God
View from Ostrog monestary in Montenegero

Belgrade Train Station
Poor people are bartering junk to survive