Bosnian Veterans: 'We Are All The Losers' 20 Years After War

The war brought... The war brought a terrible evil. We didn't get anything. We all got lost. All of us, totally. The idea of Dayton's supporters was to stop the war and create a state that will function normally. Unfortunately, even 20 years for our human century is a good part of the period. A good part of the period is wasted, let's say, in vain. The right chances were not used. The politics still exists, right after the war, Before the war, we were up to 50 years old, and now we are more than 100 years old. We have natural wealth. We had all the wealth, but we didn't have the people we needed. So, for the next generation, we caused a huge loss, which is hard to prove. Factories have closed in the wake of privatisation deals and corruption scandals. In 2014, anger over unemployment and poverty erupted into protests across the country. Many ordinary people, veterans among them, feel they are still living in the long shadow of the war. I don't think the war has changed anyone's life. I don't think there is a single person in the world who stayed where she thought she would, or where she planned to, or what she dreamed of for her family. For example, I have a company. I'm closing it down. I don't need you anymore. So, I don't have... I don't have a future. I haven't seen my children in 50 years. I think the biggest problem is social injustice. There are people in the middle class who work in state-owned enterprises. They have huge possessions on both sides. There are people who can't even eat a piece of bread. 20 years after the war's end, former fighters and civilians are able to live in relative peace. But stability and prosperity are far out of reach in a country that has yet to bridge its deep post-war divides.