“Which Europe?”

Many in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina were shocked by the passivity and neutral attitude of European governments during the war, particularly because they felt and considered themselves as Europeans and saw Sarajevo and BiH as incarnations of European values. The perception that Europe was betraying its own values was also shared by many who engaged with support and solidarity mobilisations with BiH. Rallying cries such as “Europe is in Sarajevo” (or “Sarajevo is Europe”) and “Europe dies in Sarajevo” were used both in BiH and the rest of Europe.

At the same time, the fight for a free, democratic and multiethnic BiH was also seen by some as a necessity and a chance: a necessity to stop violent nationalism from spreading throughout Europe, and a chance for Europe to rediscover its real values and reinvent itself. The latter idea was most prominently articulated by the slogan “Europe dies or is reborn in Sarajevo”, the title of a campaign launched in several European countries in Spring 1995. At the end, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina raised for many the question: Which Europe do we want?