The international conference “Violence in History: Experiences, Memories and Representations in Southeast Europe,” organized by Panteion University and the Joint History Project, drew the attention of the Greek media. On 27 September, the leading Athens daily To Vima published two articles by journalist Nikos Markatos, based on conversations with conference participants. In them, former Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati and historian Amir Duranović of the University of Sarajevo discuss the current political situation in Albania and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both articles show how much the conference’s themes, violence and the memory of the 1990s, still shape politics in the region today.
In the first article, Bushati discusses the mass protests in Albania. He says young people are their driving force and that the movement is not controlled by political parties. Citizens want European standards to be put into practice and want to change the country’s model, beyond corruption, oligarchy and politicized institutions. Bushati also warns the West against valuing a false sense of geopolitical stability over real democratization in the region.
The second article features an interview with Duranović ahead of the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Duranović says that “the ghost of Mladić and the trauma of the 1990s” shape the elections in today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ethnic divisions are still stronger than political identities, even among young people. On teaching history, he says there is still a lot of work to do, “and not easy work,” and that facing the past takes courage.
Read the articles here:
