BalkanThemes Volume 1: Issue 2 – Roma

November 3rd, 2014

Roma family stands behind a broken window of their house where they were attacked by the local population in Osenik, which is located 20 km west of Sarajevo (Credit: Midhat Poturović)

The second issue of BalkanThemes examines the rights of Roma and other minorities in the countries of former Yugoslavia.

Minorities Roma

Ferhadija Mosque Reopening: A test of tolerance in a divided city

Twenty-three years to the day since it was demolished by Serbian nationalists as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign, Banja Luka’s grand mosque, Ferhadija, was reopened on 7 May. Despite continuing tensions between the Serbian and Bosniak population of Banja Luka, the ceremony passed off without incident and marked an important date in the city’s troubled history.

May 24th, 2016

Lidia Kurasińska

The Scars of Transition: A City Forgotten, a Generation Lost

From dawn till dusk in the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, transition always entails a dose of risk. Most of the time, it is simply fear of loss and failure. Our environment was unfortunately struck by both. Everything that once was is lost, and the fear of what will come tomorrow continues.

February 6th, 2015

Sara Velaga