ETHNO-NATIONALIST WELTANSCHAUUNG IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ON THE ROAD TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Despite the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina have been going through a deep and thorough Europeanisation process since the late 1990s it is interesting and puzzling as well that the country still has not achieved the expected level of democratic consolidation. Especially, it is of utmost importance to pay attention the increasing political domination of ethnic-nationalist political forces in the post-war Bosnia which tend to institutionally marginalize citizens of the minority groups and those who declare themselves as non-nationalists. Such a discriminatory process clearly opposes the country’s aspirations towards European Union membership. Thus, in this article I investigate the process of the post-war ethno-nationalist paradigm which has brought about deep discrimination against the so-called Others as they are defined in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The article comes with the conclusion that post-war Bosnian democracy has included a number of institutional shortcomings and serious deficiencies thus resulting in an ethnocratic regime which excludes everyone who does not feel part of such a regime. Thus, the current process of an ethno-nationalisation has clearly blocked further progress of the country towards the future European Union membership