Višegrad: Reconciliation Efforts Amidst Far-Right Revisionism, Wartime Trauma, and Foreign Malign Influence

Nikolina Lozo

Executive summary

The rise of far-right organizations in the territory of the Balkans has been the focus of researchers since the 1990s and the war conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. When war conflicts ended the focus was on the process of reconciliation. After the global economic crisis in 2008, populist movements in Europe, as well as extreme far-right organizations in Europe, and therefore also in the Balkans, grew. The trend of the increasing popularity of right-wing organizations has not bypassed Bosnia and Herzegovina either. The focus of this text will be right-wing organizations operating in the territory of Višegrad. Right-wing organizations that operate at the local level are organizations of a regional character that are connected to Russia. The growth of right-wing organizations also influenced the growth of nationalism, and in this article, we will also talk about the life of returnees in Visegrad.

„After the global economic crisis in 2008, populist movements in Europe, as well as extreme far-right organizations in Europe, and therefore also in the Balkans, grew.“

Photo: Shutterstock.com

The Dayton Peace Agreement: Structure and Entities

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended 29 years ago with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. According to Annex 4 – the Constitution, an integral part of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities, the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbs are dominantly populated in the Republika Srpska. At the same time, Bosniaks are the majority in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, except for a couple of cantons in Western Herzegovina, where Croats are the dominant population. Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreement provided for the return of refugees and displaced persons to the territories where they lived before the start of the war. This article will discuss right-wing organizations in Višegrad and interethnic life in this municipality.

„Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreement provided for the return of refugees and displaced persons to the territories where they lived before the start of the war.“

„According to research conducted by the Guardian, the right-wing party is advancing: climbing steadily up the polls, shaping the policies of the mainstream right to reflect nativist and populist platforms, and occupying selected ministerial roles in the coalition governments.„

Emergence of Right-Wing Organizations in Višegrad

Višegrad is a municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is located near the state border with Serbia. According to the population census in 2013, Višegrad has about eleven thousand citizens. The dominant ethnic group is Serbs. According to research conducted by the Guardian, the right-wing party is advancing: climbing steadily up the polls, shaping the policies of the mainstream right to reflect nativist and populist platforms, and occupying selected ministerial roles in the coalition governments. The most popular right-wing organization is the Chetnik movement. At the very beginning, it is important to say that right-wing organizations are present in all three nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Still, on this occasion, the focus will be on organizations that are active in Republika Srpska with a focus on Visegrad.

The Chetnik movement was active until 2019 when the Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska suspended the movement’s activities due to the complicated security situation in the Western Balkans. Until 2019,. the gatherings were held at two locations in Višegrad, the first location being the town square, from where the gathered would go to the second location – Draževina, where Draža Mihailović was arrested in 1945. Dragoljub Draža Mihailović was a general during the Second World War. He was a leader of a royalist and nationalist movement established after the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. The gathering was always accompanied by the singing of Chetnik songs and military salutes, which caused fear and resentment among members of the Bosniak population.

Although it is not officially registered as a right-wing organization, the fan group „Delije“ is also classified as right-wing. The fan group Delije is a unique name for united fans of the Red Star sports club. Red Star Belgrade is one of Serbia’s two largest sports clubs, but it has regional influence. During the celebration of the Day of Republica Srpska on January 9, on the Mehmed Pasha Sokolović Bridge, a banner with an officer’s cap was unfurled with shouts of the names of convicted war criminals during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which caused reactions from Bosniak associations that filed criminal charges against individuals who participated in to celebrate.

Why is it important to mention right-wing organizations in the context of the Republika Srpska Day celebration?

Most right-wing organizations operating in Republika Srpska usually participate in the celebration of January 9. Some of them are also participants in the central event held in Banja Luka. Right-wing organizations operating in the territory of Republika Srpska are usually sister organizations of right-wing organizations operating in Serbia and Russia. Some of these organizations are Night Wolves, Brave for Kosmet, Serbian-Russian Center Majak (in Serbian, Noćni vukovi, Hrabro za Kosmet i Srpsko-ruski centar Majak), and others. The aforementioned organizations gained their importance in Republika Srpska when the celebrated film director Emir Kusturica entered political life. Since 2010, the celebrated director has become an increasingly important figure in the Republic of Srpska, first because of his engagement as one of Milorad Dodik’s close people, second, because of the beginning of the construction of the tourist complex Andrićgrad. The construction of Andrićgrad began in 2010, and it was officially opened in 2014. The aforementioned tourist complex is dedicated to the Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić, who spent his childhood in Višegrad. From the beginning of the initiative to the implementation of the Andrićgrad project, various comments appeared. From the fact that the project is economically unprofitable to the fact that the soft power of Russia is planned to be implemented through the project. What we can say about the allegations about Russia’s soft power, we cannot confirm with certainty. Still, we can say that during the period of Kusturica’s active involvement in the abovementioned project, we had various manifestations dedicated to Russia and other countries, including the Western world. Examples include participation in international conferences organized by the Andrić Institute and the promotion of books by French writers as part of the Book Fair, which also takes place in Andrićgrad. The topics and narratives that are the focus of right-wing organizations are related to the national issues of Serbs in different countries. Still, due to their close connection with Russia, they often talk about Russians living outside of Russia and their rights.

Višegrad is also known because of nationalist graffiti. One can be found in the Garča neighborhood with the inscription: „Your honorable struggle, our eternal freedom“ with an outlined map of the Republic Srpska and an officer’s cap of the Army of Republic Srpska. In addition to the above, there is a series of graffiti related to Kosovo and Metohija, and Russia. In the signature of the mentioned graffiti is the fan group „Delije“.

Conclusion

Annex 7 defines that the return of refugees and displaced persons to the territories where they lived before the outbreak of the war is enabled. Precise data by a municipality on the number of returnees after signing the Dayton Peace Agreement is unknown. A certain number of displaced persons also returned to Višegrad, primarily Bosniaks. In the last year, there were two attacks on Bosniak returnee families in the territory of Višegrad. The first attack was related to an elderly married couple in a village near Visegrad, but this attack was not ethnically based and was carried out of self-interest. One suspect was arrested, but due to lack of evidence, he was released after 48 hours. In this case, all public authorities announced this case condemned the attack on an elderly married couple and called on the institutions to bring those responsible to justice. The second incident happened at the end of January when Bosniak was also attacked. The attacker underwent criminal investigation, there is no other information about this case. In this case, public authorities did not disclose any information.

Sources:

Nikolina Lozo is an Intern at the Strategic Analysis.

Disclaimer: Views presented here are those of the author solely and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Strategic Analysis.