Post-Dayton period in Bosnia and Herzegovina

With the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (after negotiations held from 1 to 21 November 1995) in Paris on 14 December 1995, a framework was created for a "new", post-war period in the life of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its society. It is interesting to mention that, for quite a while, the Dayton Peace Agreement was not officially translated in BiH, nor was it ratified in the national Parliament. The Agreement was signed without the involvement or knowledge of the citizens of BiH. The legitimate Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, according to the country's Constitution, was the only body competent to take the "Decision" to sign the Dayton Peace Agreement, never took that Decision. Neither did the Parliamentary Assembly of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In February 2008, it was found out that the original General Framework Agreement for the Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (as this document is officially called), had been lost". By the end of 2009, at the request of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, a certified photocopy of the original Dayton Peace Agreement with all its annexes. In such a legal ambiance, the post-war life continued in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens and peoples. Political forces that led the "warring parties " continued to lead the post-war processes!?

The role of the international community's High Representative (OHR) has been extremely important in the processes of introduction of those elements of the system that enabled the continuity of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of securing its common currency, creating joint Armed Forces, single vehicle registration plates, citizens' personal documents, and those public services that are of interest for the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the matter of fact, with the creation of entities - i.e. the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, as well as Brčko District - administrative competences have been divided into the competences of joint institutions at the state level and those at the level of entities and Brčko District. It is interesting to note that in international finances, the acronym used for the country's joint currency, which replaced Bosnian Dinar in 1998, is BAM (Bosnian Mark), while in internal payment operations it is called "Convertible Mark" and that it was pegged to German Mark and then, with the introduction of Euro it is pegged to Euro (1 € = 1.95583 KM).

Transition - as this period in the historical development of Bosnia and Herzegovina is called in political discourse is still an open process. It began with the Peace Agreement, which only ended the war (1992-1995). The transition actually began in 1990, with "first democratic elections", and continued with the change of social ownership into the state ownership, pursuant to the Law on Transformation of Social Ownership adopted by the Assembly of RBiH (Official Gazette of RBiH, NO. 33/1994), and the process of privatisation that is still under way. The process of transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a complex one and is not reduced to economic dimension, but encompasses the full transformation of society - ideological, education, cultural, etc. - from one system of social and societal relations into another.

Civic - secular society is more and more pushed aside by the ethnically and nationally determined one. We have been witnesses of the process of establishing, inter alia, of ethnically defined academies of arts and sciences, so that, in addition to the existing Academy of Arts and Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we now have ANURS (Academy of Arts and Sciences of Republika Srpska, established on 11 October 1996), BANU (Bosniak Academy of Arts and Sciences, established on 9 June 2011 in Novi Pazar, Serbia), HAZUBiH (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established on 23 June 2014 in Mostar). Meanwhile, the National (Land's) Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, the oldest scientific and cultural institution in the country, established in 1888, was closed - together with another six relevant cultural institutions.

Ever since the signing of Dayton Peace Agreement, the legal status of these institutions (the National Gallery of BiH, the Cinemateque of BiH, the Library for Blind and Partially Sighted Persons, the Historical Museum, The Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts, the National and University Library of BiH) has remained unresolved. The National Museum of BiH was closed for public on 4 October 2012. It took almost three years for it to be re-opened on 15 September 2015, mainly thanks to the civic action "I am the Museum". In the period from 2 August to 9 September 2015, over 3,000 citizens, public figures and guests from the region and the world, as well as 300 legal entities, took part in the action "I am the Museum", which was aimed at resolving the question of legal status of the National Museum and another six institutions of relevance for BIH, as well as at securing the funding of their regular activities.

The principle of de-centralisation, internal organisation of the country (two federal units and District Brčko), the fact that the Federation of BiH comprises ten cantons - it all has led to the situation wherein educational curricula are decided and conceptualised "locally", with the focus on education in the so-called "national group of subjects", and less on exact scientific disciplines. There is an ever-growing number of private schools and universities. Evident impoverishment of public educational funds has caused stagnation, inadequate infrastructure, drop in quality and in educational and scientific standards, which consequently led to an ever-growing gap between the BiH society and key technological trends of the modern world. Nevertheless, there are results and achievements. Awards won by our talented and diligent pupils at international competitions in Mathematics and Physics recommend them for international scholarships and studying at prestigious world universities, above all in Europe and America.

International success of our co-patriots is visible in different areas of creativity. The 1992-1995 war forced many of them to leave home and find refuge in the EU and the U.S.A. They obtained education at universities there, and thus gained necessary qualifications to participate in international labour market. I will mention here only some of them. In the area of car design, exceptionally successful are Omer Halilhodžić (VW, Mitsubishi, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Škoda) and Kemal Curić (Ford). The new stars appeared on the stage in the U.S.A.: in the domain of illustration, Boris Pelcer (TheNew Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Bloomberg, Village Voice, Women's Health, Nike, Converse) and, in the domain of cartoons, Adi Granov (Marvel Comics). Edin Karamazov became internationally known for his talent and his cooperation with Sting (Album "Songs from the Labyrinth", 2006).

Zlatan Ibrahimović is one of the best world football players (Malmö, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, PSG, and Manchester United). Edin Džeko (Wolfsburg, Manchester City, and Roma) and Miralem Pjanić (Olympique Lyion, Roma, and Juventus) are equally successful.

The National Football Team qualified for the first time for the World Football Championship (Brazil, 12 June - 13 July 2014). The Cadet Basketball Team of Bosnia and Herzegovina won Gold (on 16 August 2015, after it defeated the host team) at the European Cadet Basketball Championship, held in Lithuania. Amel Tuka won the Bronze Medal in 800 metres at the World Athletics Championship, held in Beijing in 2015. In the world of film, Danis Tanović (Oscar for No Man's Land, 2001) and Jasmila Žbanić (Golden bear for Grbavica, 2006) attracted the world attention.

These and numerous other successes show all the vitality, ingeniousness and talent of Bosnian and Herzegovinian men and women, who are capable of being part of all the contemporary civilisation trends and of being its prominent proponents.