Identity and Conflict in the Balkans

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Identity and Conflict in the Balkans

• Tenth Week

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News

• Serbian athletes protest (Milorad Cavic)
• Recognition from Croatia, Hungary, and Bulgaria
• Bosnia and the US Presidential Primaries

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ICTY

• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
  Yugoslavia
• Purpose prosecution of war crimes in territory
  of former Yugoslavia
• Established by the UN in 1993
• Meets in The Hague, The Netherlands

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Whats it all about?

• War crimes against ethnic Serbs living in Croatia
  in 1995
• Deaths, massive evacuations, destruction of
  property
• Background retaliation

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Republic of Serbian Krajina 1991-95
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At Large

• Kaplan on Karadic and Mladic
• Who is Karadic?

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Ismail Kadare (1936- )

• Prilli i Thyer (1978) ("Broken April", 1980)
• Numerous novels
• Status as major writer of the Balkans

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Themes of Broken April

• Urban vs. mountain culture
• Past affects the present
• Tenacity of old moral codes Kanun, blood feud

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Balkan Wars of the 1990s

• Slovenia vs. Yugoslavia
• Croatia vs. Yugoslavia
• Yugoslavia vs. Bosnia Bosniaks vs. Bosnian Serbs
• Croatia vs. Bosniaks
• Dayton Accords (1995)
• Serbs vs. Kosovars (1998-99)

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Time Line

• December 9, 1990 -- Miloevic elected president
  in Serbia's first multi-party election since
  World War II
• June 25, 1991 -- Croatia and Slovenia proclaim
  independence

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Results of independence movements

• June 1991 -- Yugoslav tanks fail to crush
  Slovenian independence. Fighting begins in
  Croatia between Croats and ethnic Serbs.
• December 19, 1991 -- Rebel Serbs declare
  independence in Krajina region which makes up
  almost a third of Croatia.
• December 1991 -- In Bosnia, the most ethnically
  mixed Yugoslav republic, Serb minority holds
  unofficial referendum opposing separation from
  Yugoslavia. Local Serb leaders proclaim new
  republic separate from Bosnia

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1992-93

• January 1992 -- U.N. forces enter Croatia and
  fighting subsides.
• February 29 - March 1, 1992 -- Bosnia's Muslims
  and Croats vote for independence in referendum
  boycotted by Serbs.
• April 6, 1992 -- War breaks out between Bosnian
  government and local Serbs, who start 1992-1995
  siege of capital Sarajevo.
• January 1993 -- Bosnia peace efforts fail, war
  breaks out between Muslims and Croats, previously
  allied against Serbs.

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1994-95

• 1995 -- Two major thrusts by Croatian forces
  recover most of Serb-held territory and 150,000
  Serbs flee to Serbia.
• November 21, 1995 -- Following NATO air strikes
  against Bosnian Serbs, Miloevic joins presidents
  of Bosnia and Croatia in peace agreement at
  U.S.-sponsored talks at Dayton, Ohio

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Progress since 1995?

• Divided Bosnia
• ICTY indicts and convicts
• 2003 EU takes over policing from UN
• 2004 Peacekeeping handed over to EUFor
• Bridge at Mostar rebuilt
• Stability for the most part

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Counting Victims?
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Danis Tanovic
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No Mans Land

• 2000 feature film
• Setting Bosnia, June 1993
• Characters Chiki (Ciki), Nino, Cera
• Sides Serbs and Bosniaks
• UN comes next
• Situation in the trench

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New developments

• Discussion of origins of the war
• Cera returns to life
• Humorous-serious alternations
• Ciki and Nino knew the same girl in school
• UNPROFOR
• Limitations

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Serious issues

• Translation problems
• Competence, training of UN forces
• Competence of leadership
• Will the problem be resolved?

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Film types Heroic (Behind Enemy Lines)

• Overcome obstacles
• Good guys victorious
• Black and white characters

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Non-heroic

• Uncomfortable
• No clear answers
• No easy solutions

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Both

• Strong images
• Action, suspense, romance

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Bosnia

• Ethnic mix distinctive because of religious, not
  linguistic base
• More intense ethnic feeling
• Croats, Serbs, Muslims
• Muslims converted by Turks
• Cosmopolitan center Sarajevo
• Recent book by Bill Carter Fools Rush In

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Siege of Sarajevo

• 1992-96
• Blockade 400k residents trapped
• Thousands killed
• Variety of human rights violations
• UN food airlifts in June 1992
• Declared over in February 1996
• Population 650k to 220k (400k now)

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Serbian Orthodox Church (Sarajevo)
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Jewish Cemetery
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Inside Sarajevo Synagogue
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Bey Mosque in Sarajevo
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Assassination of Archduke 1914
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Welcome to Sarajevo

• Directed by Michael Winterbottom
• 1997 film

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Whats Happening?

• Reporters trying to understand
• Different reporting styles question of
  objectivity, taking sides
• Relationship with locals

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Struggles with objectivity

• Food for locals the eggs
• Double life dealing with strangers who dont
  have a clue

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Who is the enemy?
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What about the children?
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UN Presence

• What can the UN do?
• What about priorities?
• What are the top 14?

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Documenting the horror

• Concentration camps
• Bombs, snipers, and soldiers

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Personalizing the conflict

• Woody Harrelson visits the father of prisoner
• Stephen takes up the orphans cause
• Promises
• Taking sides?

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Escape from Sarajevo

• Departure
• Stops along the way
• Massacre remains
• Serb patrol
• Arrival in Split

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Concert in Sarajevo

• Vedran Smailovic
• Bread line massacre in May 1992
• 22 people killed
• He played 22 days in front of the bakery to
  commemorate the victims
• Albinonis Adagio in G Minor