Tensions rising in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo - Balkans

[barese]

Why have they radicalizing their children to such an extent?

Bosniaks and Croats don't carry on that way

You should read about this then:
Croat–Bosniak War - Wikipedia

The second biggest city in the country is still segregated, and the Mostar division is between Croats and Bosniaks.
Arguably the greatest monument of the country, the Old Bridge in Mostar, was destroyed in this war, to cut the connection between Croats and Bosniaks in this war.

After the destruction of the Stari Most, a spokesman for the Croats said that they deliberately destroyed it, because it was of strategic importance.[15] Academics have argued that the bridge held little strategic value and that its shelling was an example of deliberate cultural property destruction. Given that mosques, synagogues, and churches in Mostar were in proximity, the Old Bridge was targeted for the symbolic significance it served in connecting diverse communities.

Stari Most - Wikipedia



Serbs have committed a genocide in Srebrenica, but this does not mean Croats and Bosniaks were not radicalized in the other places of the country.

(There was even a bloody internal Bosniak war, between the forces of the most popular politician and the official president.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was sad, bloody and complex, as civil wars often are...

And sadly all sides were very radicalized 3 decades ago.)



The situation has improved greatly since the war, unlike in Kosovo for example.
(This thread actually picked the wrong place for possible problems.)
In Bosnia and Herzegovina the radicalization of all sides lowers with time: economic, cultural and sport connections between Serbs and Croats and Bosniaks have practically returned to pre-war levels.
Unlike in Kosovo.




The ethnic resentment is still visible in remaining segregation of practically every city (Banja Luka is Serb, Tuzla is Bosniaks, and Široki Brijeg is Croat)... school systems remains divided in three parts...
In the capital the situation is slowly improving, and in time it is bound to improve in other places, but this cannot be done artificially from abroad...

 

[barese]

Looking at this thread, it might be important to mention a couple of naming standards...

So that if you ever meet someone from the region, you can be true informed coli representatives lol...


1. There is a reason the country is called Bosnia and Herzegovina.

People from Herzegovina of all ethnicities typically hate when they are called Bosnians, or when Herzegovina is omitted...

Due to Neretva river Herzegovina has the Mediterranean climate, so a lot of rocks and olives, and possibly just as much cultural connections to Mediterranean as to Bosnia.
Physically, together with Montenegrians, Herzegovinians are the tallest people of ex-Yugoslavia, and they have many connections to Montenegro, too...
(There's a reason most of basketball players from ex-Yugoslavia originate from Herzegovina and Montenegro)




2. Please don't confuse the terms Serbs and Serbians, since this is offensive to Bosniaks and Croats

The whole point is:
Bosnia and Herzegovina is not Serbia...

Saying Serbian instead of Bosnian Serb is offensive for the other ethnicities...

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Looking at this thread, it might be important to mention a couple of naming standards...

So that if you ever meet someone from the region, you can be true informed coli representatives lol...


1. There is a reason the country is called Bosnia and Herzegovina.

People from Herzegovina of all ethnicities typically hate when they are called Bosnians, or when Herzegovina is omitted...

Due to Neretva river Herzegovina has the Mediterranean climate, so a lot of rocks and olives, and possibly just as much cultural connections to Mediterranean as to Bosnia.
Physically, together with Montenegrians, Herzegovinians are the tallest people of ex-Yugoslavia, and they have many connections to Montenegro, too...
(There's a reason most of basketball players from ex-Yugoslavia originate from Herzegovina and Montenegro)




2. Please don't confuse the terms Serbs and Serbians, since this is offensive to Bosniaks and Croats

The whole point is:
Bosnia and Herzegovina is not Serbia...

Saying Serbian instead of Bosnian Serb is offensive for the other ethnicities...

Why don’t Bosnian Serbs just go to Serbia?

 

[barese]

Why don’t Bosnian Serbs just go to Serbia?

Why don't you just go to India?





Why don't all non-native Americans just go where they came from?



Why don't Bosniaks just go back to Turkey?



(All these questions are on the same level of seriousness...)

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Why don't you just go to India?





Why don't all non-native Americans just go where they came from?



Why don't Bosniaks just go back to Turkey?



(All these questions are on the same level of seriousness...)

I'm not indian.

I'm being serious. are Bosnian serbs different from Serbian serbs? I'm kinda ignorant on this

 

[YvrzTrvly]

I'm not indian.

I'm being serious. are Bosnian serbs different from Serbian serbs? I'm kinda ignorant on this

Serbian relates to the language serb the people. Furthermore bosniak is Muslim croat Catholic and Serbian Orthodox.

.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Serbian relates to the language serb the people. Furthermore bosniak is Muslim croat Catholic and Serbian Orthodox.

.

I get this.

I'm talking about BOSNIAN serbs.

 

[YvrzTrvly]

I get this.

I'm talking about BOSNIAN serbs.

That's not what you asked but okay regardless Bosnian Serbs live in an area called republika srpska

 

[FaTaL]

As a ignorant American can u guys explain this ethnic rift?


Cliffs please

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

That's not what you asked but okay regardless Bosnian Serbs live in an area called republika srpska

I get that.

So why not just...go to Serbia? Is this all worth it?

 

[barese]

I get this.

You don't.

The religious difference he mentioned is it...
the only difference in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

@FaTaL
We are talking about the same group of Slavic people out of which a millennium ago some became Orthodox and some Catholic, and roughly 400 years ago some became Muslim.

Why?
Because they were perfectly between Rome and Constantinople basically...
The influence of both was partial, and a perfect ground for islam...


All of them are the most similar to their neighbors, just having different religions...



And you are asking why, instead of learning to live with their neighbors, they don't just go elsewhere...


Why don't black Americans just go to Africa, instead of making all US people learn to live with different races?
(This question is also on the same level of seriousness...
... just on the basis of race instead of religion.
Bosnian Serbs are even a greater percentage of their population, at 30%, double the population of black Americans in the US...)




After the war Bosnia and Herzegovina became rather segregated, similar to different races in the US.
Srpska is even less segregated since there are 14% of Bosniaks.
In the Bosniak part there are only 3% of Serbs left.


Srpska is on roughly 50% of the territory, because of somewhat lower population density in the mountains.

Immagine leaving literally half of the country empty with your idea of ethnic cleansing, just to understand how crazy it is...

 

[barese]

For everyone wishing to learn more about Bosnia I'm suggesting 3 books:

1. The Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andrić,
Our only Nobel winner,
Bosnian Croat that lived in Serbia, and wrote this masterpiece in Belgrade on ekavian dialect (spoken in Serbia)

1a.
Also a brief fragment from his letter written in 1920, explaining the reasons for war 70 years later, and one can possibly even read between the lines on the reasons for hope (click on Fragment):
Letter from the Year 1920 - Задужбина Иве Андрића




2. Death and the Dervish - Meša Selimović
A masterpiece by a Bosniak that lived in Belgrade.
The only person whose name was held by the two conflicting military units in the civil war.

3. For greater Yugoslav context:
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West,
The original travel book on Yugoslavia,
became bestseller in UK in 1941 on the brink of WW2

(Note the Old Bridge on the cover, dividing Bosniaks and Croats in Mostar)

Specially interesting part is her arrival to Zagreb where she's met by three men.
Their evolution from the old man grown in Habsburg monarchy that fought for Yugoslavia,
to the middle aged man that was an official in Yugoslavian Kingdom,
to a young man grown in Yugoslavia that fights for Croatia
describes the reasons for Yugoslavian break-up...

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

You don't.

The religious difference he mentioned is it...
the only difference in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

@FaTaL
We are talking about the same group of Slavic people out of which a millennium ago some became Orthodox and some Catholic, and roughly 400 years ago some became Muslim.

Why?
Because they were perfectly between Rome and Constantinople basically...
The influence of both was partial, and a perfect ground for islam...


All of them are the most similar to their neighbors, just having different religions...



And you are asking why, instead of learning to live with their neighbors, they don't just go elsewhere...


Why don't black Americans just go to Africa, instead of making all US people learn to live with different races?
(This question is also on the same level of seriousness...
... just on the basis of race instead of religion.
Bosnian Serbs are even a greater percentage of their population, at 30%, double the population of black Americans in the US...)




After the war Bosnia and Herzegovina became rather segregated, similar to different races in the US.
Srpska is even less segregated since there are 14% of Bosniaks.
In the Bosniak part there are only 3% of Serbs left.


Srpska is on roughly 50% of the territory, because of somewhat lower population density in the mountains.

Immagine leaving literally half of the country empty with your idea of ethnic cleansing, just to understand how crazy it is...

Again. The Bosnian Serbs are...still Orthodox. They serbs. No?

 

[barese]

Again. The Bosnian Serbs are...still Orthodox. They serbs. No?

Depends.
What's the difference between WASPs in Canada and in the US?

Those close to the common border are fairly similar, and for them the border is just administrative formality.





Those on the opposite side of the country, like a Serb from Banja Luka and a Serb from Southern Serbia, could even have difficulty understanding each other, since the dialects are quite different...
(more than the difference between the English dialects of Calgary and Texas... )





You can't kick anyone out of a home and tell them to go elsewhere.

When you do it to an ethnic group it's called ethnic cleansing.