Much of the fighting that took place during the Bosnian war of the 1990s occurred in the country’s mountains, hills, and countryside. Once littered with landmines that led to the destruction and decay of the hiking trails and mountain huts that served to connect the country and its people, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now re-establishing itself as a hub for outdoor and adventure tourism as it invites people to return to its mountains to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Dinaric region.
In the early ‘90s, no one believed that war would hit Sarajevo or that the Yugoslav National Army could turn into an enemy of the city’s people. For centuries, Sarajevo had been a multicultural city with its mosques, synagogues, and Catholic and Orthodox churches.
“How does one archive or record the details of the massacres of a state that wants to hide its massacres?” Serbian director Ognjen Glavonić attempted to do just that with his latest film.
“Anywhere from 25,000 all the way to 100,000 have been reported to have emigrated since last fall. Why are all these people desperate to flee the country that only years ago they ached to see free?”
Had he been born in South America, Gavrilo Princip would have been an equal to Che Guevara and Emiliano Zappata; in Africa, he would have been a counterpart to the glorious martyrs who fell in the struggle against colonialism.
“Only the details differentiate the narratives of WWI from those of the 90s Balkans wars. The latter speaks of Greater Serbian nationalism and the endangerment of other peoples, as well as some concept of Yugoslavia only mildly related to Yugoslavia itself, whereas the former is but another excuse to repeat the same arguments.”