Beauty and Hurt in the Balkans

One of the joys of doing a PhD on a European-related theme is that I can justify trips to less known corners of my continent as "research". It's a long shot but makes me feel better about taking time off. That said, in the case of Bosnia and Croatia, the focus of my current trip, it's not that far from the truth. These countries have been the focus of EU Higher Education policies to help their recovery from the 1992-5 war and some of the students involves in my case study come from this part of the world. If Universities can be used as a "soft power" tool to bring about social change, peace and growth - as the EU desires - then this is a prime example of where it can be used. 

I was 9 when the war in Bosnia started in 1992 and remember my Mother trying to explain that this was important not simply due to the deaths but it's proximity to us. A shooting in this part of the world had lead 80years earlier to war across Europe. This is not some far flung land but part of our continent. 

And that has been one of the striking things since we landed in Dubrovnik 36 hours ago. The Dalmatian coast is a little bit Italian, the Herzegovinan river valleys seeming a little like inland France and the rocky mountains like Provence. Of course, this country is unique and its beauty stunning but, in places, this is a land that is familiar.  So to imagine a war raging through this part of the edge of Europe is challenging. 

As we drove deeper into Bosnia some of the divisions became clearer. Road signs in cyrillic were crossed out or had graffiti on them to correct into what one minority consider the "correct" language. The number of minarets was a little unexpected but with some 48% of the 3.8m population being Muslim, they shouldn't have been. There have been Muslims in this part of the world for 5 centuries. Christians in the UK have left their mark on the architecture of the country with church towers over that time, the same will be true here. At the same time as witnessing the familiar in Bosnia & Croatia, we were seeing new things, too. 

Mostar is one of the places where the divisions in this society were clearest 20 years ago in 1993 when the bridge between the 2 elements of this society was destroyed and crimes committed against the city's populations. The bridge has been rebuilt and is impressive. In the bright autumnal sunshine it is beautiful yet, all around buildings remain bombed out, bullet marks can be seen on buildings and the community remains separated into groups as can be seen by the separate schools, governance and cultural institutions. 17 years may have passed since the peace was agreed and millions invested but there is still much that divides this nation. 

As tourists, we are amongst the minority who come here though numbers are increasing. We strayed from the main tourist sites to small villages or back roads where the divisions become more evident. Schools for one group of children or another. Cemeteries, spray painted slogans, war memorials and, I suspect, local cafes dedicated to one group or another. The infrastructure here is not suited to tourists (the lack of accommodation, food or even signage indicates that) but this is, I feel, what really needs to be seen and talked about. The reality of this country rather than the glossy brochure they want to present. 

And this is where the EU and, in a strange way, my research links back in. This place needs unifying infrastructure and knowledge. The EU has experience of this following the divisions through war, the iron curtain and socio-political shifts. Through the power of schemes like the one I am researching, people learn and engage with new peoples and cultures. The "other" becomes familiar. If this is allowed to continue here, perhaps HE can have a role beyond educating. 

Today I am stunned by the concurrent beauty and still-visible ravages of war in Mostar & Bosnia generally. Tomorrow, perhaps, I can be impressed by the beauty and a country that has continued to move on from its difficult past.