Eastern approaches

Ex-communist Europe

How to mark June 28th 2014

Partisans on the loose

Nov 25th 2011, 17:51 by T.J. | SARAJEVO

PrincipHISTORY might have been different if Gavrilo Princip had missed. But when the driver of Archduke Franz Ferdinand took a wrong turn in Sarajevo on June 28th 1914, Princip raised his pistol and shot the Archduke and his wife. A month later the first shots of the first world war were fired.

How should Sarajevo mark June 28th 2014? In circles interested in the Balkans the question has been discussed for many years. It is a hard one to answer. The assassination is a central event in world history. Yet it was an act of terrorism. Complicating matters, Princip was a Serb and, although he wanted a Yugoslavia, the first casualties of his act were Serbs.  Croats and Bosnian Muslims (as Bosniaks used to be called)* immediately rampaged through Sarajevo to take revenge.

“What exactly are we supposed to celebrate?” a Sarajevan recently asked me. One idea was that if Bosnia and the other western Balkan states would join the European Union on that day, events could be held to mark their “return to Europe”. But it has been clear for years that this coincidence was never going to happen.

Then some clever Bosnians came up with an idea that was later adopted by the mayor of Sarajevo. Every year a couple of European cities are anointed European Capitals of Culture. Events are held throughout the year and large numbers of people visit as a result. This year Turku in Finland and Tallinn, the Estonian capital, are sharing the prize. So why not apply for this, the Bosnians thought.

It would have been great. Events during the year could have involved the Serb part of the city and would not have focused on the date of the assassination itself. But it was too late when the Bosnians came up with the idea. Umea in Sweden and Riga in Latvia had already been chosen for 2014. Besides, thanks to a recent change in the rules, European Capitals of Culture have to be in a EU country, and Bosnia is not in the EU.

Yet Bosnians and their friends rarely take no for an answer. They resorted to “partisan” actions, though not the fighting kind in the woods, but in the forest of European institutions. One was launched in the European Parliament. After much pressure, it passed a resolution in May calling to make an exception for Sarajevo, arguing that it had “a special place in European history”.

The European Commission, in charge of the matter, turned down the idea. The rules, it said, simply did not allow for such an exception. Existing funds could not be used for Sarajevo. Undeterred, the Bosnian partisans launched another action. In early September Doris Pack, a member of the European parliament from Germany, wrote to Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, proposing that Sarajevo could be an “associate” or “honorary” capital of culture. The answer was a polite “no” (as you can see here).

But giving up is not an option for the partisans. They started lobbying friends, in particular the Slovenes and the Poles, who currently hold the EU presidency. But these gave up pressing the issue when the Commission continued to insist that nothing could be done. As a result, the issue will not be on the agenda when the EU ministers of culture will met on November 29th. But Poland, as the chairing nation, could still bring it up under “any other business".

So more partisan actions are underway. An appeal was sent to Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, and he replied that he would see what could be done. Another appeal was made at a meeting of high level officials and others who were gathering in Britain to discuss Bosnia on November 22nd. Commission officials were aghast at having to fight yet another skirmish. After four months the Bosnians still “don’t want to listen", as one source put it. This could not be "fixed politically".

To finally get rid of them, the Commission officials have offered a solution. Bosnia is eligible for so-called IPA funds. If the Sarajevans came up with a detailed plan of what they want to do in 2014, they could use this money. The problem, says the source, is that anything they have produced so far does not pass muster. “They need real proposals and not just a good idea.” They had also better hurry: time is running out to apply for the 2014 IPA funds.

It does seem though that the Bosnian partisans will have to admit defeat. They might just, however, win another battle. “Culture is not enough. We need something political," an ambitious Bosnian official points out. He wants Sarajevo to be the venue of a high-level international summit on the centenary of the assassination. This seems a good idea—if Bosnians can organise it in time and assure participants that there will be no Princip copycats around.
 

*"Bosniaks" and "Bosnian Muslims" in the second paragraph were transposed. We have now fixed this. Sorry

Readers' comments

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Unbias

Firstly I wonder what is TE urge to make up a story about the Sarajevo assassination as a terrorist act prompting an occasion for WWI in November 2011 instead of in June 2014! After all the reasons and the consequencies are well-known to everybody and I believe to TE readers. B&H was looted by AH Empire in 1978 at the Congress of Berlin the same way as Cyprus give away to the British for their support of the Ottomans in Russo-Turkish war 1977-78.
Later on all the Slavic people in the so called western Balkans managed to unite within Yugoslavia similar to the Italian or German unification in 19th century. The same country which was disintegrated and crumbled in 1990s.
And pls do not play with making up new people or nations because its not the same as Woodrow Wilson's nation-states policy of which Yugoslavia was one of the positive results. Bosniaks-Bosnian muslims - simply the so named are either Serbs or Croatians forced to turn muslims by the Turks in 16-17c but their etnicity,language,customs,traditions and folklore are Serbo-Croatian and definitely Slavic. Since when religion is a major precondition for a nationhood? Are the Irish different from the English only because most of them are Catholics or Persians are Arabs only because they are muslims?

richardlith

To me, and anyone else educated in the UK, this article and its comments seem like school history examination questions. ¨Why did an assination in the Balkans lead to World War?¨ ¨Were the Balkans a powder keg waiting for a spark?¨ etc etc.

Orthodox school history in the UK in the last 50 years has treated Sarajevo as the central event, though maybe not the central reason (discuss!), leading to the war.

Interesting to read that commentators not educated in the UK dismiss the Sarajevo assination as not being a central event in world history. No doubt school histories in their countries have other orthodoxies.

BULDOZER

Until 1992 in the center of Sarajevo was proudly kept a monument with Gavrilo's footprints of where he stood while shooting the archduke!!! During the last war in Bosnia, the monument was brutally demolished and the old ottoman bridge across the road (which during Yugoslav rule was named the "Prncip Bridge") was renamed to "latin bridge"....
After the war, the monument was renovated but not in the same form as before!!! So, my sugestion is, maybe add the cyrilic writing to the monument and rename back the bridge to "Princip Bridge"...
It could be one huge step twords reconciliation between one and same people of two religions!!! After all, Sarajevo since its foundation has been the city of all....serbs, croats, muslims and jews!!! It may sound like a "qlishue", Sarajevo until 92 as mixed it got more love you felt!!!

Sceptiguy

This brought me up short. Yes, it genuinely is nearly 100 years since the start of the Great War, and looking at the history of Europe and its politics and boundaries I would say that we are only now beginning to get over it. Thanks, Economist, for a fascinating thought!

wakarusa

This is a heartwarming post, and I assure you there is nothing more I'd like to see than the fascinating cultural crossroads of old Bosnia be revived in the present day. However, it seems that Europeans would be overlooking what June 28th means in the region, again. In fact, I am one to believe that a culturally insensitive oversight about this date by the Archduke played a role in his assassination. You see, the 28th of June is also the day Serbian Prince Lazar led his doomed army against the Ottomans in 1389 on the field of blackbirds (Kosovo). Had the Archduke chosen another of the 365 days in the year to visit his newly annexed province, such a plot might not have been hatched with the conviction history records. Before throwing a parade or something of the like to lament the tragedy that befell Europe 100 years ago, Europe should keep in mind that some citizens of Bosnia, and indeed Sarajevo, will be lamenting a separate, much earlier tragedy.

It is important to respect that many Serbians believe, to this day, that their nation was sacrificed to save Europe from the Turks, and that many Serbians will keep the 625th anniversary of this event in their thoughts on June 28th, 2014. A European sponsored event marking the 100th anniversary of a Serb bullet setting Europe alight against one another might rub certain locals (read: Serbs) the wrong way. It might even strike them as ungrateful and a predictable chapter of the Serbian tragedy, for the day they remember as when their ancestors sacrificed themselves to save Europe; Europe remembers as the day a Serb destroyed Europe.

I am not a Serb, and I cannot say that I support this Serbian viewpoint (not held by all Serbians). However, I can, at the least, acknowledge where these feelings come from and not simply ignore or be ignorant of these sentiments. The Balkans are a very complex place, with a very complex history and it will remain so. My personal feeling is that a return of the Olympics would do the most to heal wounds both old and more recent, and would be a tremendous boost for the economy and psyche, as this time was remembered fondly by all sides, including foreigners. But this seems like my own fantasy, not the least because of the impossibility of BiH being able to fund such an event. Alas, what a beautiful country.

Reluctant Polluter in reply to wakarusa

wakarusa,

you wrote that there was nothing more [you'd] like to see than the fascinating cultural crossroads of old Bosnia be revived in the present day. I share your dream but... there is always but, innit?

Judging by the Eastern Approaches' post, all the EU mandarins are prepared to spend their time, effort and money on... oh, sorry, the money is ours... is a self-titillating exercise in political correctness.

bampbs

We're still living in the echo of those shots, in a confused and chaotic transition from the civilization that died and one yet to be born.

Didomyk

The author says: "The assassination is a central event in world history. Yet it was an act of terrorism"

Well, I beg to differ. Certainly it was not a 'central event' in world history. In the Balkans, yes. In Austria, yes. It was a convenient pretext for a clash of ego-centric monarchs with their inflated ambitions. It led eventually to millions of dead and wounded and was followed by a collapse of both the Austrian and the Russian monarchies. But all that and more was not because of Gavrilo's assasination decision. There were hundreds of other factors involved. I would have liked to see the author briefly recount at least some other assasinations, successful or not, that were closer to being 'central events' in world history. Well, maybe next time.

Xqytfire in reply to Didomyk

I fail to see what it wrong with the way the article refers to the assassination - it is a famous event, which led to the outbreak of war. That is not to say it was a primary cause of the war, but it was the first step in the sequence in which the war broke out.

It was, effectively the 'first shot fired'.

Yura2009 in reply to Xqytfire

Don't you see a difference between what the author wrote ("The assassination is a central event in world history") and what you are trying to dispute ("it is a famous event, which led to the outbreak of war") ?

If I were asked to list ten "central events in world history" I don't think that assasination would be one of them.

But then its a matter of personal opinion.

About Eastern approaches

Eastern approaches deals with the economic, political, security and cultural aspects of the eastern half of the European continent. It incorporates the long-running "Europe.view" weekly column. The blog is named after the wartime memoirs of the British soldier Sir Fitzroy Maclean.

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