The round table “Building Trust through Understanding – Post-War Revival of Togetherness in Bugojno” was held on December 12, 2009, in Bugojno. The round table was organised by the Forum of Tuzla Citizens and Mr Viktor Dundovic from Bugojno, under the sponsorship of the Dutch peace organisation IKV PAx Christi.

The basic aim of the round table was to perceive the issues of the post-war revival of living together in Bugojno from the perspective of the local politicians, representatives of religious communities, organisations of civil society, media and citizens.

The round table was divided into three topics:
1. The role of the political parties in building trust and understanding – speaker: Mr Vehid Sehic, the President of the Forum of Tuzla Citizens;
2. The role of the religious communities in building trust and understanding – speaker: Fra Mirko Majdancic, priest;
3. The role of media and civil society in building trust and understanding – speakers: Mr Sabahudin Hadzialic, journalist and writer; and Mrs Indira Osmanagic, the president of LGS Bugojno.
The round table was moderated by Mr Vehid Sehic.

The round table was opened by Choir Bugojno with several songs dedicated to Bugojno.

During the round table, almost all participants took part in the discussion. Since most of the participants were teachers, education and divided schools were discussed in depth. There are schools only for Croatian children, and schools only for Bosniak children, which was seen by most of participants as discrimination and segregation, but since it is under the political patronage from the top, the power of the teachers who even might want to change such situation is very weak. There was also discussion about the relation among religious leaders. The Orthodox priest was not present at all, but there were religious leaders of Muslims and Catholics. The fact that came out from the discussion that they do not visit each other, which was also seen as unacceptable, and having in mind their statements it seems that there will be no change. Simply, there is not will to improve the relations.

At the end of this short report, here are several general remarks about situation in Bugojno:
a) This round table is one of the first public events of this kind organised in Bugojno after the war in BiH.
b) The politics has a great influence on all segments of society and it is very much responsible for many irregularities that participants named, such as criminalised privatisation, influence on media, very close ties with the religious institutions, support given only to privileged non-governmental organisations
c) The engagement of the political parties in building understanding and trust is at the minimal level.
d) Due to obvious intolerance and division policy led by leading politicians (Bosniaks), for a certain time after the war the city was declared as “closed city” by the International Community
e) The ethnic balance among the population in Bugojno is disturbed comparing to the situation before the war in BiH (the number of Serbs now is marginal, while before the war there were around 20%; the number of Croatian population decreased from around 35% to around 10%). The return of refugees and DPs is implemented in about 90%. These figures emphasise the fact that the demographic structure is changed and that many Serbs and Croats have not returned and their houses or apartments were bought by Bosniaks, either domicile or the new-comers from the surrounding places.
f) The ethnic division is very much present even today. “Croatian cafés” and “Bosnian cafés” still exist. In education, there are schools only from Croatian children, and schools only for Bosniak children. The only progress is that now these two schools are under the same roof. This is the worst case of discrimination and segregation.
g) The economy collapsed. There is a huge brain drain of the young experts from the city. Graduates do not return to Bugojno. Except only few of them.
The influence of the religious leaders on politics and citizens is great. Furthermore, they neither co-operate nor they are ready for co-operation with one another. (The Orthodox priest was not present, but from the discussion of the representative of the Islamic Religious Community and the Catholic priest it is obvious that they do not visit each other, which gives very negative example for the citizens of Bugojno.

After the round table in Bugojno, it can be concluded that not all preconditions for living together were created by the majority of population in Bugojno (Bosniaks) and that there is a great level of discrimination and segregation in education (separate schools from Croatian and Bosniak children).