Could history repeat itself? Conflict threatens to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina

“The current situation is a simmering conflict that builds on unresolved issues from the war.

“Croats are unsatisfied with their views of representation, of them being included in the institutions of the country. Serbs are unsatisfied with their limits on their autonomy, while Bosniaks are unsatisfied with the functioning of the central state.

“So there’s always this simmering conflict, and the issue that is always at the forefront is that leaders of all three sides are not willing to come together to talk and agree on what should be a future for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“Can we see a sort of reversal towards conflict? It all depends on how much presence the international community is willing to have in the country.

“Throughout the past 10 years or so, there’s been very little investment from the European Union, from the United States, from NATO, from basically any international actor in trying to keep Bosnian politics in line.

“You have these grievances between the three ethnic groups which have never been resolved. And that’s sort of one of these key issues that always, always comes up and always can be a catalyst for disagreement and conflict in the country.

“So what you do have is a country that does not really want war as such, but wants to resolve conflict in other ways. But this ability to resolve conflict in other ways, it’s not there.”