Institutional Discrimination against the MinorityGroups in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Barrier to EU Membership

Although over more than 10 years Bosnia and Herzegovina has been going through an extensive European Union-related reform process, the country is still facing serious democratic deficit. In particular, the post-Dayton public sphere has been dominated by ethno-nationalist political elites which are doing everything to exclude non-nationalists and members of minority groups from the decision-making process. This is a clear paradox since one of the main objectives behind the integration of the European countries into the European Community was to reduce disintegrative and dangerous influences of nationalists and establish a peaceful, prosperous, and secure community. In this article, we analyze the process of the post-Dayton ethno-nationalization resulting in a widespread discrimination against the so-called ―others‖ as they are defined in the Constitution. In the post-war BiH, democratic participation has turned into a competition between the three ethnic communities, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, rather than race of equal individuals having equal right of vote. That‘s why Bosnian people are still living under the political system which is closer to ethno-democracy or ethnocracy rather than democratic regime. Under such a discriminatory regime BiH can not enter the European Union, which is a model of open and democratic society.