SETimes.comThe Berlin Wall's last domino
09/12/2009
Memories of considerable economic development and freedom to travel make many Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens nostalgic for the Yugoslav brand of socialism.
By Antonio Prlenda for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 09/12/09
Devastated by the 1992-1995 conflict and with their economy hampered by nationalistic and corrupt politicians, the majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) citizens are nostalgic about life prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"Some say socialist Yugoslavia fell with the Berlin Wall," Sarajevo law professor Zdravko Grebo told the SETimes.
He explains that the political reforms of 1965 led to the introduction of a form of market economy, which, in turn, led to open borders allowing Yugoslavs to travel freely. This setup eased internal pressures and tensions. In addition, Yugoslavs enjoyed a strong social safety net, employment, and free quality education and health care.
"Yugoslavia was different from other communist countries within Europe. But with the fall of the Berlin Wall, that positive difference just disappeared," Grebo observed.
Although that fall changed Europe, it was not particularly big news in BiH at the time. However, adds Grebo, "soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain, new barriers began to be raised. Sarajevo was under siege for more than three years. [Today] BiH citizens still face a visa regime for travel within Europe."
He says it is hard to tell whether there are more freedoms and rights today than under socialist Yugoslavia. "There was no freedom of the press and expression in Yugoslavia. Now we have a multi-partisan political system, independent judiciary and media, but social, economic, cultural and educational rights were much better guaranteed for the majority of our citizens in the past. The current state of human rights is a catastrophe."
Retiree Zdravko Prlenda, 66, describes the last 20 years as "socialism with a human face". He said that the state provided him a flat when he was very young and life was much more secure.
While he was never a communist party member, "the fact one had to be a communist to be 'morally and politically suitable' for a promotion always made me angry," said Prlenda.
By contrast, he says "in today's BiH there is way too much crime, corruption and unemployment. There are no smiles on people's faces like in the past."
Journalist Hajdar Arifagic, 62, says that expectations of the fall of communism have definitely not been met in BiH. He believes that Yugoslavia would have been the very first Eastern European country to join the EU and NATO had it remained unified.
"We do not have freedom of movement to travel abroad, we do not have a peaceful state and developing economy, we have no [sound] policy; we neither have freedom, equality nor brotherhood. Every ideal of the French Revolution failed in BiH, though I do not see them [reached] even on global level," says Arifagic.
"If the Berlin Wall was a line of dominos that were falling, then I feel BiH was the very last domino. … The whole pressure of the process has fallen on that domino."