Balkan nations remain divided decades after the Yugoslav Wars. Traditionally, ethnic and religious divisions dominate most Balkan societies and have become the way of life in the region whose citizens now argue over their support of Israel and Palestine.
Days after the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital Sarajevo illuminated its city Hall with a Palestinian flag in solidarity with the civilians in Gaza. Sefik Dzaferovic, a Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidential Council condemned Israeli police violations against Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem.
“My message to (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu is that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not and cannot support the killings of innocent civilians in Gaza by Israeli military forces,” Sefik Dzaferovic wrote on Facebook.
On the other hand, Republika Srpska – one of two autonomous political entities which constitute Bosnia and Herzegovina – openly sided with Israel. Palace of the Republic, the official residence of the President of Republika Srpska, was illuminated with the colors of the Israeli flag in solidarity with the Jews. With a population numbering 1.3 million people (the majority being Orthodox Serbs), Republika Srpska has its own president, parliament, executive branch and Supreme Court. The other entity that makes up Bosnia and Herzegovina is known as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is under joint Bosniak (Muslim) and Croat (Catholic) rule. In the city of Mostar, where the Bosniaks make up some 44 percent of the population, a Palestinian flag was displayed on one of the most important symbols of Bosnia – the Mostar Bridge, built in 1566 by the Ottoman Empire that ruled the Balkans for centuries. At the same time, the walls of the old town of Trebinje – where the Serbs make the overwhelming majority – were illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag.
It appears that the Balkan Christians support Israel, while Muslims stand with Palestine. But it’s not that simple. For instance, Kosovo recently opened an embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the first Muslim-majority territory to do so. The Jewish state did not recognize the independence of Kosovo, which was unilaterally declared in 2008, until Pristina signed a “historic deal” with Serbia in 2020 in Washington. As a result of the agreement that looked like a list of the US demands addressed to its Balkan client states, both Belgrade and Pristina recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, although Serbia has not moved its embassy there yet. In addition, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recognized the independence of Kosovo, which Serbia still considers as part of its territory. Palestine, on the other hand, refuses to recognize the disputed territory.
Recently, the Israeli Ambassador to Serbia, Jahel Vilan, said during a TV interview that Israel had recognized the independence of Kosovo “under pressure from the United States”.
“Israel decided to recognize Kosovo under US pressure, and it is important to note that it was done within an agreement Serbia and Kosovo had signed with the United States, not Israel. I’m not trying to hide behind it, it was a decision Israel made after years of refusing to recognize Kosovo’s independence. It’s definitely against our interests in Serbia, and my own” Vilan said.
In reality, it was Israel, rather than Belgrade and Pristina, that benefited from the Washington Agreement. As another result of the US demands, Serbia announced that it will designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization, which Kosovo already did in June 2020. It is worth remembering that during the Bosnian war (1992-1995), the Shiia group reportedly sent its fighters to help Sunni Muslims against the Serbs. In 2019, the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah revealed that the Iran-backed forces fought and had military camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war in the Balkan country. That is one of the reasons why Republika Srpska sees Israel as its ally.
“Republika Srpska has proven itself to be the Jewish state’s best friend in Europe, a reliable and sympathetic partner in a part of the world where such traits are increasingly rare”, wrote Michael Freund who served as Deputy Communications Director in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office under Binyamin Netanyahu.
Indeed, as Netanyahu pointed out in 2014, the friendship between the Jewish and Serbian peoples goes back to thousands of years, to the time of the Roman Republic. That, however, does not mean that all Serbs have sympathies for the Israeli actions against the Palestinians. During the rule of Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavia strongly supported Palestine, and even broke off diplomatic ties with Israel in 1967 after the Six Day War. In 1999 the Palestinian Authority reportedly invited late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to join in with the celebrations of the Christian Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem, but Israeli officials threatened to arrest him. Nowadays, Serbia seems to try to balance between the interests of Israel and the Arab world.
Finally, on May 12, the Palestinian diaspora in Belgrade gathered to protest the Israeli actions against their compatriots in Palestine and, a few days later, Jewish communities in Belgrade staged a rally in support of Israel. For the Balkan peoples as a whole, given that they still live in a relatively turbulent region, taking sides in the conflict between Israel and Gaza is nothing but a lose-lose situation.
As Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings said, “I’m on nobody’s side, because nobody is on my side”. In the Balkans, that scene has become suddenly more relatable as of late.
Image credits: Matt Hrcak and Jan Maximilian Gerlach
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