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February 11, 2014

Mass Protests Erupt in Bosnia over Corruption, Unemployment 
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Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing its largest anti-government protests in
nearly two decades. The protests have spread across the country,
shutting down the capital Sarajevo on Monday after erupting in the
northern city of Tuzla last week. A Tuzla University professor described
the protests' launch.

Damir Arsenijevic: "What happened here is that the people of Tuzla, of
the Tuzla region, finally said that they had had enough of the nepotist,
the corrupt and the unprofessional government, a government that for the
past 20 years hasn't listened to the people and their anger and wrath, a
government which does not see that the people are hungry and unemployed,
that they have no chance for a future. And what happened is that the
people took matters into their own hands and stepped up to take part in
creating their own future. That's what happened."

Bosnia's unemployment rate is estimated to be between 27 and 40 percent.
The political frustration stems at least in part from U.S.-brokered
peace accords in the 1990s that established an unwieldy political system
in Bosnia.

 

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