As a Serb strongman makes moves that could break up Bosnia, many in Europe fear a bloody replay of the ethnic strife of the 1990s.
For three hot days in July 1995, the world stood by as a genocide took place in Srebrenica, an otherwise unremarkable mining town in eastern Bosnia, where women once went to drink the local waters and pray for fertility. But for those of us who had lived through the three years of war leading up to those terrible days—or reported on that period of sorrow—Srebrenica became a potent symbol of the inertia and impotence of the international community.
There are currently 600 international peacekeepers in Bosnia, and NATO maintains a formidable headquarters in the capital, Sarajevo. Russia, which meddles in Bosnia—as it does in many governments across Europe—has threatened to block any resolutions unless various conditions are met: basically undermining Schmidt, the quasi-czar of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the power of whose office was established as part of the 1995 peace deal, the Dayton Peace Accords.
Many knowledgeable observers look at the recent developments in Bosnia and fear the outbreak of another war. The situation is made more dire by Russia’s apparent intention to destabilize Fortress Europe:of Belarus, is responsible for thousands of desperate Iraqi and Kurdish asylum-seekers now displaced and freezing on the Polish border.
All of this leaves me incredibly anxious. The Bosnian war was something that shaped and determined the rest of my life. I went to the region forand other publications , embarking on a career covering conflict and humanitarian crises. This winter, in fact, several friends and I have been planning an April 2022 reunion of correspondents and photojournalists to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of the war.
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