A maritime disaster, a peace agreement in Bosnia, and a milestone in entertainment.
Tag: bosnia and herzegovina
A revolutionary invention, the end of a war and the birth of an Icelandic singer.
Updated July 11, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. The Srebrenica massacre happened on this day in 1995 during the Bosnian War. Bosnian Serb forces, led by General Ratko Mladić, captured the town of Srebrenica, which was designated as a United Nations Safe Area. Bosnian Serb troops then systematically killed more than 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men […]
Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — a topic that you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll! […]
Even with no end in sight to the war in Ukraine, Russia may be plotting to destabilize the Balkans by the end of this year. The target? Bosnia and Herzegovina, which may be already close to splitting.
As the Taliban closed in on Afghanistan, the European Union co-signed a joint statement with dozens of nations agreeing that “the Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity” and that the international community was “ready to assist them”. As someone who has been researching the refugee crisis on Europe’s borders for years, I found the statement surprising. Before it was making bold statements about events in Kabul, the EU had spent years failing to help thousands of Afghans seeking help at its borders. Since 2015, more than 570,000 Afghan citizens have sought protection in the EU. Thousands […]
The very first memories of the 30-year-old mayor is when the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina was under siege. But now it’s also time to move on.
The colored tattoo of a fortified bridge towering high over troubled waters takes up almost all of my friend Ivan’s shoulder. In his early 30s, Ivan has a footballer’s build and flawless cockney accent. He’s been a British citizen almost all his life, but was born in Mostar, in present-day Bosnia, in the late 1980s […]
In the Balkans, developers are rushing to install hydroelectric plants on Europe’s last untapped river systems. Activists — including an unlikely group of Bosnian villagers — are fighting back.
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Sarajevo, Same Pigeons
Sarajevo’s Baščaršija square is known as “Pigeon square.” There are moments when the birds are everywhere. In this shot, you may have to look a bit harder to spot them.
BERLIN — What does “genocide” actually mean? The United Nations War Crime Tribunal in The Hague has officially declared the massacre of Srebrenica in Bosnia in 1995 as genocide. The term has a complicated back story, which is worth revisiting after Thursday’s historic conclusion in The Hague in the case of Radovan Karadzic. The judges […]
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Pigeon Square
BašÄaršija square is one of the landmarks of Sarajevo’s old town, where everybody comes to sit around and talk and drink. But we tourists know it as “the Pigeon Square”.
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All Unpaved Roads
Visiting Sarajevo 43 years ago was virtually a feat in itself because the roads leading to what was then part of the socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were mostly unpaved, and there were very few hotels to welcome tourists. But the city was nice and quiet, and kept its distinct Ottoman charm.
GORNJA MAOCA — In Sarajevo, you come to realize that all the essential things in the world have been affected by war, or rather, by the circumstances of war. You realize the economy’s upheaval, the general misery and, above all, the turmoil in each individual life: embarrassment, uncertainty, anxiety. “It’s like being in a prison […]
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Bridging History
The Stari Most (“Old Bridge”) was infamously destroyed in 1993 during the Croat–Bosnian War. Twenty years later, thanks to UNESCO funds, it was rebuilt with its notable arched Ottoman design. Motivated both by the architecture and recent historical events, I made sure to make my own crossing.
What does Sarajevo look like today? Nearly two decades after a devastating siege, the city’s reconstruction tells the story of both renewal and a troubled history not quite healed.