I urge members who speak English to post regarding the protest so we can have a Croatian perspective of events down there.

Stay safe to all of you in those areas.


Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/bosnia-tuz ... 55814.html

Bosnian Police Use Tear Gas As More Unrest Rocks Tuzla

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, police are reported to have used tear gas as clashes between antigovernment protesters and police took place for the second day in the northern city of Tuzla.

AP reports that 13 people sought medical aid after clashes on February 6 outside the local government building.

Police were reported to have used tear gas to disperse several hundred rock-throwing protesters -- mainly unpaid workers.

They accuse authorities of depriving them of their livelihoods by fraudulently privatizing state-owned companies before allowing them to go bankrupt.

Protests were also reported in the capital, Sarajevo, and elsewhere.

On February 5, more than 20 people were reported injured and 24 arrested in connection with the Tuzla unrest.

Bosnia is facing growing economic and social problems 20 years after the end of its 1992-95 war.

Croat members follow the events over the thread named "The Bosniak Spring":
http://hercegbosna.org/forum/politika/bosnja-ko-prolje-e-t11357.html

The name of the thread was initially "The Bosnian Spring", however it soon became apparent that it is a phenomenon limited to the Bosniaks, so the name was changed by mods.


General impression is that the Bosniak activists on the streets are targeting for demolition State, Cantonal and Municipal institutions (buildings), but carefully avoiding Federal institutions.

Also, they torched HDZ headquarters in Mostar, but they didn't touch the HQ's of any of the Bosniak parties (SDP, SDA, SBB, BOSS) neither in Mostar nor in Tuzla, Sarajevo or Zenica. Maybe SDA headquartes in Mostar could get torched in these minutes.

If we wouldn't knew who's hand is behind this (segment of Bosniak elite*), we would have a curious situation that protesters torch opposition party HQ and not the ones belonging to the ruling coalition responsible for economic problems.

*Fahrudin Radončić (SBB), Mirnes Ajanović (BOSS), Sejdo Komšić (DF) etc.

Symbolism used in demonstrations shows the usual mix characteristic for the Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks):

1. Tito's posters in Tuzla

2. War flags of the Republic of B&H

3. Graffiti and chants about "Bosnia" instead of "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "One nation" denying the existence of three nations in B&H etc.


The protesters also burned cantonal flags and defaced all signs of cantonal institutions in Tuzla. They changed the flag with the War Flag (Lily-flower flag).


All of these events are related to European Parliament "2013 progress report on Bosnia and Herzegovina" adopted yesterday which denounces centralisation advocated by Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) elite and supported by its constituency.

http://www.votewatch.eu/en/2013-progress-report-on-bosnia-and-herzegovina-motion-for-resolution-vote-resolution-as-a-whole.html

There are voices who consider the events spontaneous, hopefully there'll be other posts giving arguments pro and con.

The protests are still based on just one nation - Bosnian Muslims.

I'm not sure it is correct to bring distinction between elite and the people. It seems that this is one of the rare times in history when true "marriage" exists between the two; some historians put America in 1920s as an example.

Bosnian Muslims seem to be unified in, what they percieve as their national interest. It cannot be said that elite guide and lead, or manipualte the people, it is more like a two way street.

Unfortunately their national interest appears to be to discriminate against Croats and not to give them equal rights as European parliament report indicates and European politicians explicitly say in their statements.

This issue and ignoring all the other problems like economic crisis, unemployment, low standard and poverty led to the "Bosniak Spring".

In all the major Bosnian Muslim cities violence errupted while Serbs and Croats completely ignored the protests. Violence and protests didin't occur in any major Serb or Croat city, exept Mostar, which is divided between the Croats and Bosnian Muslims and again Bosnian Muslims from the East side of the city constitute the vast majority of the protesters.

This protest show the miserable side of Bosnia and Hercegovina. Even in protests inspired by poor social and economic conditions the three constituent nations cannot unite.

And it seems that Bosnian Muslim politicians play the card of nationalism while many people rioting say that one of their goals is to destroy Dayton Agreement that gives some rights to the other two nations (in case of Croats very little) and to create unitary, centralised Republic with "one people, one president" (which is what European parliament report condems as obstacle to the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union).

To quote from the report:

"The European Parliament,

2. Welcomes the six-point agreement reached in Brussels on 1 October 2013, but deplores the obstruction of its implementation by centralist forces; stresses the importance of following the principles of federalism and legitimate representation in order to ensure BiH’s path."

Sadly nothing new from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It stays deeply divided country along ethnic lines.

Bosnia-Hercegovina protests break out in violence


Demonstrators in Bosnia-Hercegovina have set fire to government buildings, in the worst unrest since the end of the 1992-95 war.

Hundreds of people have been injured in three days of protests over high unemployment and perceived inability of politicians to improve the situation.

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to quell unrest in the capital Sarajevo and the northern town of Tuzla.

On Thursday, clashes between police and demonstrators in Tuzla injured more than 130 people, mostly police officers.

"People protest because they are hungry, because they don't have jobs. We demand the government resign," Nihad Karac, a construction worker, told the AFP.

About 40% of Bosnians are unemployed.

The BBC's Balkans correspondent Guy De Launey says exasperation at years of inertia and incompetence in Bosnia is at the root of the protests.

Bosnia-Hercegovina is made up of two separate entities: a Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and the Bosnian Serb Republic, or Republika Srpska, each with its own president, government, parliament, police and other bodies.

The complex administrative framework and deep divisions have led to political stagnation and vulnerability to corruption.

The administration is split along ethnic lines - and seems incapable of agreeing on anything but its own above-average pay packets.

This has left the rest of Bosnia's citizens struggling to move forward.

Even practical matters like national identity cards get mired in ethnic politics. At one point last year, desperate mothers formed a human chain around the main government building, begging for identity cards for their babies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26086857

I've thrown myself into the fray at the Guardian here as NobleDonkey:

Bosnia-Herzegovina hit by wave of violent protests.

The main focus for me is to give the context of what is going in with the EU resolution calling for federalization and rejecting secessionism and centralism being the subtext to these protests (as opposed to just economic concerns) which are not at all cross-ethnic, but are overwhelmingly Muslim.

I thought i would post this. Comments by Dr. Nino raspudic saying that this is a Bosniak spring and that Croats won't take part in the protests.

http://dnevno.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/11433 ... uciti.html