B O S N I A A N D H E R Z E G O V I N A
by Paul Csagoly
One tour begins downtown at the Hotel Orient, flanked by centuries-old tombs of Turkish pashas and the fresh graves of Travnik's newly lost, young Bosnian soldiers. The hotel is also the local head office of the IPSF, or International Police Security Force. The streets appear calm, with locals enjoying cigarettes and coffees as they have for countless years in Travnik.
The bus rolls on to the city's fringe, to large nondescript apartment blocks where walls and balconies are scarred by shrapnel and bullets, where men are busy chopping firewood in preparation for the long winter ahead in the mountain valley.
And then the winding ascent up Vlasic Mountain.
A transition zone between town and top, this part of the mountain is shrouded in beautiful green. Ascending further, the scene takes on a postcard life of its own with shepherds and flocks and the charming city of Travnik below. Then begin glimpses of horror - of burnt homes lying by the roadside, or homes that have been gutted where nothing remains, not even the wooden roofs, save for concrete walls which were too heavy to steal.
Their numbers increase to the mountain top, peaked by a village, now an eerie ghost town skirted with barbed wire.
The Bosnian guide, trembling while she speaks, explains that this was once a famous ski resort, formerly part of the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Games. The hotel is now an SFOR army base, the charming wooden villas have been gutted and burnt, and ski lifts and jumps have been ruined.
Nearby is one of the former front lines between the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). The guide warns that nobody should walk off alone. The tempting forest is carpeted with land mines. A situation that may last for 100 years. (The late Princess Diana, who was deeply involved with the country's anti-landmine campaign, stayed in Travnik as part of her last humanitarian mission 10 days before she met her own tragic death in France.)
Past the toppled electrical poles, the bus descends back into Travnik to return the assembly of people who have come to help heal the country's ecocide - representatives from government, NGOs, scientific institutions, international organizations, and the Regional Environmental Center (REC). It is their first official meeting with the REC, where they will hear about the activities of the REC and those of each other, and discuss their common future and cooperation.
It may be the last such meeting for the REC, which has had similar events in 14 other countries in the region in its seven years of existence. But they are similar only in process, because Bosnia's plight is its own. "In Bosnia, this is a very special situation with very few similarities to other countries," said REC Executive Director Jernej Stritih. "Nonetheless, we can learn much from other countries. The message is that it's not impossible."
As long as there is cooperation...
