iscover
Opinion: I’ve always been critical of the US imposing its will on other political systems under the pretence of “bringing democracy to your doorstep”. Yugoslavia is a case in point, details Maja Garaca Djurdjevic.
While the region was once under communist rule, the system that has dominated it for the past three decades is anything but democratic. Its nationalist-driven leaders have subjected the people to levels of oppression, poverty and control that far surpass the worst excesses of the communist era.
In my opinion, communism was fair. We lived well – there was work, there was equity and religion was frowned upon. While some had issues with the latter, particularly the Catholic Church, religion, frankly, never worked for us.
We never knew how to believe in our own while respecting that of our neighbour. If only “democracy” hadn’t emboldened the ultra-religious – parading their gold-plated crosses and criminal records – the situation might have been different.
The so-called liberation that followed Yugoslavia’s mild version of communism has brought little more than exploitation, corruption and an endless struggle for survival.
America’s democracy has driven waves of migrants to seek better futures elsewhere – to places where leadership isn’t entrenched for decades under the illusion of electoral legitimacy. What was promised as freedom has, in reality, been little more than a reshuffling of elites, where the many still suffer while the few thrive.
And yes, while the fall of Yugoslavia was a multifaceted process shaped by internal dynamics, external interventions – such as America’s recognition of the independence of republics like Croatia and Slovenia – ultimately influenced the trajectory of the break-up.
Now, let’s turn to the present – the reason I found myself frantically hitting my keyboard this morning. Donald Trump and the US democracy-wielding machine is dead.
Trump has given wind to Putin’s back, to Orban’s back, and, inevitably, to Putin’s puppets, Aleksandar Vucic and Milorad Dodik.
The latter has reignited talks of the secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Serb entity, the Republic of Srpska, bringing Bosnia closer to war than it has been in the three decades since the last genocidal conflict.
In Belgrade this past weekend, President Vucic was allegedly involved in deploying an illegal weapon – a sound cannon – against students protesting against the repression and corruption empowered by the current system. Despite months of protests and most recently 300,000 people taking to the streets – protests sparked by the tragic collapse of the concrete canopy at Novi Sad’s main railway station in November, which claimed 15 lives – Vucic remains unhindered.
Donald Trump Jr’s recent visit to Belgrade, where he met with Vucic under the guise of discussing bilateral relations, is yet another example of the tacit endorsement Trump extends to dictators – figures who preach democracy while entrenching regimes that crush dissent and thrive on corruption.
And then we turn to Bosnia and Herzegovina – my beautiful country, scarred by centuries of bloodshed and wars waged along religious lines. A land blessed with arguably the most stunning natural gifts in Europe, yet home to a people so sharp, so curious, until it comes to politics, where they follow their shepherds blindly, no matter where they lead.
If you’re unfamiliar with how Bosnia’s political system operates, let me paint you a picture – at the nation level, we have three figureheads, each representing an ethnic (or, let’s be honest, a religious) group. Below them, two separate entities, each with its own government, its own president, its own prime minister.
A web of bureaucracy so convoluted, it seems almost deliberately designed to keep the people divided and the powerful untouchable – except, in reality, it was meant to put an end to over four years of bloodshed, a war that culminated in Europe’s worst genocide since World War Two.
The Serb Republic is led by Milorad Dodik, a separatist who has spent decades toying with secession – rhetoric long dismissed as political posturing.
Dodik has shifted between roles as prime minister, president, and Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national presidency since 1998 (with a six-year break from 2000–06), skilfully manoeuvring to ensure he remains in power for over two decades.
This month, Dodik took a decisive step, pushing a draft constitution through the Serb Republic’s Parliament – one that could effectively sever the Serb-dominated entity from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik did this after a scuffle with the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (don’t ask, Google), Christian Schmidt, which left RS’ supreme leader facing legal consequences – including a prison sentence and a ban from public office.
The international community has voiced deep concern over these developments, particularly the actions of RS’ leadership. But Trump has stayed silent.
The US embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned the move, calling it “a direct attack on the state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Agreement”. Yet the US President remains mute.
For Washington, Bosnia – and the Western Balkans more broadly – isn’t a strategic prize, but a geopolitical headache. But silence, in this case, is as loud as words.
To Dodik and Vucic, it’s a green light. To Bosnia, it’s a threat to sovereignty. And to those who remember the horrors of the past, it’s a silence that could pave the way for another war – one from which the Western Balkans may never recover.
And that’s where I find myself at war with my own thoughts. America’s relentless wielding of democracy may have led us into this mess, but it’s America’s inaction that is now dragging us into another.
As long as Vucic and Dodik believe they are protected, both by the man in the East and the man in the West, all hell will reign on the Western Balkans.
The European Union – its EUFOR troops, its speeches in Parliament – may feign commitment, but we’ve seen this before. These are the same forces that stood and watched as 8,000 boys and men were massacred in Srebrenica.
The EU failed us then, and it is failing us now – not just by keeping us out, but by never giving us a real, workable path forward.
Trump must impose sanctions. He must wield every diplomatic weapon at his disposal to rein in this tyranny, he must denounce actions that undermine Bosnia’s unity before it’s too late, before the Western Balkans spiral into chaos from which there is no return.
Maybe that’s the plan – maybe it’s in everyone’s interest for us to implode?
The EU has spent decades struggling with us, never fully opening the door. Turkey and Russia have played their games on our land, pulling strings, whispering promises, fuelling divisions.
And so we are left stranded – caught between powers that use us but never truly help us.
Where does that leave us as a people?
Maybe the real tragedy isn’t just what’s happening now, but what’s already happened.
So many of us left. Not because we wanted to, but because we couldn’t keep fighting a system designed to break us. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe those who had the strength, the education, the will to change things, chose exile over exhaustion. And now, from a distance, all we can do is watch as the cracks deepen, as history threatens to repeat itself, again.
Did we give up too soon? Or was the fight never ours to win?
Maja Garaca Djurdjevic’s career in journalism spans well over a decade across finance, business and politics. Now an experienced editor and reporter across all elements of the financial services sector, prior to joining Momentum Media, Garaca Djurdjevic reported for several established news outlets in south-east Europe, scrutinising key processes in post-conflict societies.
