Security Expert Vladimir Vučković's Analysis: The Number One Problem in BiH is Corruption

By Mr. Vladimir Vučković, Patria

It doesn't take a great scientist to understand the environment you live in. If we talk to friends or look around us, we will realize that there are many challenges threatening our existence. Various media outlets, professionally or unprofessionally, inform us about daily events in our society in their own way. Unfortunately, the most current news is from the crime blotter. People I interact with daily, quite justifiably, ask themselves, "What kind of environment are we living in?".

Life in a country like ours is not easy at all, as various factors influence the overall unfavorable "climate" that prevails. To determine the actual crime rate in "our society," we would need to conduct a comprehensive study, but even without it, it is easy to conclude that we are overwhelmed by various criminal phenomena that not only damage the country's image in international circles but also label our citizens abroad as individuals prone to various criminal "machinations." A logical question arises: "Why?"

The primary problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina is corruption; everyone knows this and agrees with it, but no one does anything about it. Various malversations related to corrupt criminal offenses cause millions in losses to the state. Everyone who has the opportunity tries to harm the state treasury in any way for personal gain. I will give a trivial and minor example. A car owned by the state of BiH, as can be concluded from the official permit for 2015, is used by individuals for personal needs. Imagine if someone had put a child seat in that car. It is evident that the relevant state official thinks in the style of Louis XIV, "L'État, c'est moi" (The state, it is I).

Arrogance in spending public funds further contributes to the economic crisis we are in. The crisis has resulted in a high unemployment rate, which directly leads to social inequality and poverty. Youth unemployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the highest in Europe. The lack of foreign investment makes our economy weak and drives young people to leave the country or turn to crime. Viewed through the prism of various criminological understandings of the etiology of the criminal phenomenon, we can conclude that the poor position of young people in society is a very risky factor that influences the crime rate. An additional problem is the fact that prison capacities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are insufficient, and a large number of persons convicted by final judgment for minor offenses are awaiting their sentence to be served while free.

Today's media are prone to sensationalism; professionalism is cast aside because the most important thing for them is to have high viewership and circulation. We must admit that there are few media outlets that strive to report on educational, useful, and serious topics. Precisely because of such a working style, the breaking news that has flooded social networks are events in various reality shows. Immorality, fornication, debauchery, arrogance, ignorance, etc., are ubiquitous synonyms for "modern life." It is an undeniable fact that people of low social status and education imitate those from higher ranks. Younger generations no longer read Selimović, Andrić, Dostoevsky, Kočić, but they watch television, which presents them with heroes of the new era, and imitation can begin. All of the above creates uninterested generations that are easily manipulated.

All that remains for us is to hope and fight for a better tomorrow. We must turn towards a common future and move towards it. There is hope, but we must encourage young educated people and honest intelligence to get involved in the process of creating a better social environment. Politicians of the so-called socialist mold must hand over the responsibility for leading the country to responsible and moral young people; this way, we will at least save on translation costs, as most young people speak foreign languages. If we want a better tomorrow, then we must fight, because a nation that does not fight for a better future does not deserve a better future.