{"id":116973,"date":"2025-04-23T14:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T12:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/?p=116973"},"modified":"2025-04-23T15:25:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:25:50","slug":"when-youthful-summers-river-death-and-deadly-nationalism-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/when-youthful-summers-river-death-and-deadly-nationalism-collide\/","title":{"rendered":"Youthful summers, river death and deadly nationalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"116973\" class=\"elementor elementor-116973\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-46b5863 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"46b5863\" data-element_type=\"section\" 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https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Feature-Image-Michiel-Piersma-326x166.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-540a84d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"540a84d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-eff07bd\" data-id=\"eff07bd\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d27e9a elementor-align-center elementor-mobile-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"6d27e9a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-xs\" href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/longform\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">LONGFORM<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9f4d146 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9f4d146\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2473b8f\" data-id=\"2473b8f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-12386f5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"12386f5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Youthful summers, river death and deadly nationalism<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c2af59e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c2af59e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Podrinje\u2019s rivers and humans shape one another\u2019s lives.\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aa5c0ef elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"aa5c0ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-62db741 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"62db741\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/author\/michielpiersma\/\" style=\"border-bottom: 1.3px solid yellow;\" target=\"_blank\">By Michiel Piersma <\/a>  | April 23, 2025<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c63d9e elementor-shape-square elementor-grid-0 e-grid-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-social-icons\" data-id=\"3c63d9e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"social-icons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-social-icons-wrapper elementor-grid\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-facebook elementor-repeater-item-5e387e1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kosovo2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fab fa-facebook\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-twitter elementor-repeater-item-7ae3a81\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kosovo2point0\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Twitter<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-instagram elementor-repeater-item-8daffd8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/kosovo2point0\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Instagram<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fab fa-instagram\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4b4bc22 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"4b4bc22\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5ad5f01 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5ad5f01\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-dab14e0\" data-id=\"dab14e0\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61f0650 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"61f0650\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An old, narrow bridge of corroded steel foundations and three-meter-wide wooden planks connects eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina with northern Montenegro. Travelers between Sarajevo and Podgorica straddle the international border while on this bridge, whose one lane often creates long lines of heavy industry trucks, minivans with rafts strapped onto their roofs and motorcycles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rickety-looking bridge\u2019s perceived instability is reinforced by the thundering river Tara a dozen meters below, cutting through the steep limestone peaks of mountains Magli\u0107 and Pivska. As opposed to the queues of border crossers up above, Tara does not wait. A couple hundred meters downstream, Tara meets mountain river Piva, after which they amalgamate into the river Drina.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traveling through what is known as the Podrinje region in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Drina does not stop flowing for another 346 kilometers, until it meets the river Sava on Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s northeast border with Serbia. Drina\u2019s flow and bed connects the river region\u2019s diverse and contested ecosystems with its human communities. Following Drina and its beaches, conviviality and dams unveils hints about the pasts, presents and futures of Podrinje, its rivers, its people and the relationships within and between them. Podrinje is at once teeming with life and dreadfully dying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina flows in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/documents1.worldbank.org\/curated\/en\/734891530192900955\/pdf\/IWRM-Country-Report-Montenegro.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">riverbed of limestone and sandstone sediments between 200 and 250 million years old<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The rocky riverbanks and rolling mountain slopes host over 130 endemic plants: irises, carnations, knapweeds and bellflowers that grow nowhere else than overlooking Drina. Fish populations of brown trout and the endangered huchen traverse the wild streams with much more ease than we humans in a floating raft. Rarely-seen mammal species of blind moles and snow voles have key populations here, in the Drina basin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although such beings in water, forests, grasslands and mud banks often remain invisible to the everyday human eye, they form the heights, depths and volumes of Drina ecosystems, the roots of which far predate human beings&#8217; conception of Podrinje as a region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet human hands have dramatically altered the river. Concrete hydropower dams regulate Drina\u2019s flow, and the many biotic lives within it. The river\u2019s symbolism and strategic location underpinned wartime territorial violence, and its hidden depths have helped conceal humans\u2019 crimes against humanity. The social ties deeply intertwined with living with the river in the Podrinje region are slowly disappearing. These issues have global, regional and national drivers; however, it is by following the river and its many local lives that the intricate relations between them can be discerned, and that we can imagine their uncertain futures.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-987a82e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"987a82e\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a31cd54\" data-id=\"a31cd54\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9aea8a6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"9aea8a6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2500\" height=\"1478\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/rafts_5sec.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-116988\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-94f80bc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"94f80bc\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-09a0383\" data-id=\"09a0383\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-91c7ae1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"91c7ae1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">In a raft down Drina<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We pick up Drina&#8217;s flow three kilometers downstream, in the village of Bastasi. It is an already stuffy early morning in July 2022, and Mila has just climbed into an inflatable whitewater raft. Mila studies at a university in Belgrade, but returns to Podrinje during the summer months, just like many of her peers.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bastasi, in the municipality of Fo\u010da, mainly consists of rafting camps along Drina. Today, it marks the starting point of an event called Drinska Avantura, in which<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">40 rubber rafts float together on Drina&#8217;s blue-green surface. All will follow Drina for 18 winding kilometers, reaching Fo\u010da town approximately eight hours later. Two of those boats are Mila\u2019s and her friends\u2019, a group of young people in their late teens and early 20s who have all grown up in Fo\u010da. Some work or still go to school in town, while others study in places across Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am the only person to whom neither applies; although I am a friend of Mila&#8217;s, I am mostly known as that Dutchman who is writing a political science thesis about the everyday of Fo\u010da&#8217;s youth. That day, however, I paddled, sang, drank, jumped into the Drina and went head-first across its roaring whitewater rapids (almost) as much as my fellow rafters. It was only when I had spluttered to the surface after one of those rapids that a tension manifested.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ae05715 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ae05715\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e5cdc0a\" data-id=\"e5cdc0a\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1e60cca elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1e60cca\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How could my friends&#8217; deep riverine identities coexist with the garbage regurgitated by the same rapid that I was in? How do generations of human connection to the river interact with the extensive damming plans of Drina and its tributaries? How could this unencumbered riverine joy of a town&#8217;s people be rhymed with the unresolved stories of murdered Muslim men that disappeared in that same river in the 1990s?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I did not unsolicitedly subject my raftmates to the musings of a political scientist in a wetsuit, nor do I think such complexities of living in Podrinje can be rhymed or reconciled in the first place. Mostly, joining Mila&#8217;s group float down Drina emphasized the necessary connection between human beings and the non-human yet also living river.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3aa990f\" data-id=\"3aa990f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96eda64 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96eda64\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further details about the research process<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4bb02fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4bb02fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Although written in Australia\u2019s capital Canberra, the article\u2019s journeys reflect an intimate engagement with Fo\u010da, Podrinje, its people and its natural environments ongoing since 2017. Significant parts are based on academic fieldwork conducted between 2021 and 2022 as part of a PhD research project at the University of Liverpool, U.K., on the politics of landscape in eastern Bosnia. The research was financially supported by a doctoral scholarship from that same university.\n\n<br><br>\n\nThe young Fo\u010daci who populate these pages all agreed to take part in this research. To ensure anonymity (which is required for a research project), they all adopted a pseudonym of their choice. The interviews were conducted in Bosnian\/Croatian\/Serbian. The eventual PhD thesis titled \u201cThe production of joyful, violent and absent landscapes: walking with youth and politics in Eastern Bosnia\u201d was successfully defended in June 2024. <\/p>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-100f967 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"100f967\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-087a539\" data-id=\"087a539\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ae7c0d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ae7c0d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The people of Podrinje live in close association with Drina and its tributaries. The river and the people mutually control each other&#8217;s existence and actions; life\u2019s challenges and possibilities are shaped by this association. In light of the many biodiverse and sociopolitical systems across Drina&#8217;s 346 kilometers, this story is situated in the river&#8217;s upper course \u2014 Gornje Podrinje, specifically, there where the river meets <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the town of Fo\u010da, in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Drina originates in this municipality, at the confluence of the Piva and Tara on the border with Montenegro, and is joined by 16 tributaries in the municipality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a deliberate choice to present this Drina as this story\u2019s protagonist. Fabulists have long written and thought about worlds in which humans do not take center stage. In recent years, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/442544\/elixir-by-kassabova-kapka\/9781529920475\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">writers like Kapka Kassabova<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/inpressbooks.co.uk\/products\/my-rivers?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&amp;pr_rec_id=a21d83907&amp;pr_rec_pid=8324660330785&amp;pr_ref_pid=3212283013&amp;pr_seq=uniform\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Faruk \u0160ehi\u0107 let the rivers, animals and plants of the Balkans speak to people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; they are joined by academic work on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ceupress.com\/book\/riverine-citizenship\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rivers and love in Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/portal.uniri.hr\/portfelj\/65\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">farm animals in Croatia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/roadsides.net\/kojanic-008\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inconvenience of jackals in Belgrade<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The river flows, trickles, transgresses, retreats, reveals, conceals, warms and freezes. Despite our perennial inability to understand, let alone put into words, all activities of this riverine ecosystem, what follows here is a story of Drina and the people around it.<\/span><\/p><p><b>The force of the rivers<\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On that day of Drinska Avantura, it took over eight hours for the river to take us and our rafts to the group\u2019s hometown of Fo\u010da, 18 kilometers downstream. Our pace decreased considerably throughout the day, as the levels of alcohol-induced and sun-kissed shenanigans increased.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At first, Drina is a winding, fast-flowing river, accelerated by various rapids and narrow sections. The riverbed straightens and widens on its approach to the town of Brod, where it takes one last wide turn to set sail to Fo\u010da. Trees growing out of steep cliff edges are replaced by crash barriers of the M20 motorway towards Sarajevo. Seemingly imperturbable, the river takes in Fo\u010da\u2019s urban transgressions on its immediate edges: a recently built gas station, a yellow bridge offering vehicles and pedestrians a dry river passage and the municipal swimming pool showing off its chlorine-filtered water.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e7ecdd1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e7ecdd1\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bd5fa93\" data-id=\"bd5fa93\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7b867d elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b7b867d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111167\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220312_113512-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Podrinje\u2019s landscape is marked by rivers cutting valleys in the surrounding mountains. Photo: Michiel Piersma <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-975e542 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"975e542\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d0859fe\" data-id=\"d0859fe\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6fdc3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6fdc3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Directly after the water park, Drina welcomes its right bank tributary, \u0106ehotina. \u0106ehotina enters Fo\u010da\u2019s town center from the sparsely populated forest areas to the east, before joining Drina. At this confluence, Fo\u010da becomes \u201cthe town on two rivers,\u201d a common nickname among Fo\u010daci<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fo\u010da dwellers\u2014 emphasizing its perceived singularity in relation to its Podrinje neighbors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mila and her friends compare Fo\u010da to Vis\u030cegrad, for instance, with its UNESCO-listed bridge and visitors from across the world. Milo\u0161 says that Vi\u0161egrad is \u201cdead,\u201d whereas the combined beauty of Drina and \u0106ehotina \u201cobligate us to look after them.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cFoc\u030ca wouldn\u2019t be Foc\u030ca without Drina and \u0106ehotina,\u201d Dorijan adds.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina and \u0106ehotina are wholly different in many aspects: water quality, depth, temperature, current, smell, personality, even. These differences are understood best at this confluence. Sr\u0111an says that it is common for bathers to swim in the very middle of the confluence, to experience how \u201chalf of your body freezes, and the other half is warm.\u201d Even on hot summer days, Drina\u2019s water does not exceed 13 degrees Celsius, which, as Dorijan tells me, is because this water originates in the lake Piva, a mountain reservoir up to 190 meters deep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u0106ehotina is friendly, calm, a river that invites you to learn how to swim, at which you lie on the beach until the sun sets. Drina, in comparison, is the pristine yet temperamental counterpart, a being that cannot be tamed easily. Sr\u0111an has seen otters swimming in Drina, animals that attest to the river\u2019s cleanliness.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u0106ehotina\u2019s swimming infrastructure is more developed than Drina\u2019s, offering urban beaches that we will visit at a later stage. Sweltering hot summer days turn Drina into a more attractive option for a dive, albeit possibly not for the faint-hearted; Laura tells me how she and her friends would hold competitions to see who dared jump into the deep water first, swim to the middle, and then who would stay there the longest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mila, with whom I have been in the raft, points at a rock that also serves as a jumping platform: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn primary school we were there all summer long, every day. All day we were outside, 45 degrees, I don\u2019t know how, but we went anyway. I love for the water to be cold. I think if the water is cold, it must be clean.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-16e47fb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"16e47fb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-305d096\" data-id=\"305d096\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-736656a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"736656a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1825\" height=\"1079\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gif_drinacehotina.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-116997\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\"><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e3b92d7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e3b92d7\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-092ce10\" data-id=\"092ce10\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d33074 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4d33074\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I often sensed a careful reverence towards <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina\u2019s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> waters; the river is dangerous and unpredictable. Its volume and current increase greatly in early spring, and it is at its wildest in May. In winter, the risks of floods increase, and recent memories of Drina overflowing its banks are cemented in many of my interlocutors&#8217; minds. Stefan recalls a recent incident in which Drina&#8217;s source river Tara almost swallowed a rafter, which made him realize the river&#8217;s temperament, and the need to always have a dose of fear and caution towards nature. The rivers have their victims, he says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In \u201cDvije su se rijeke zavadile\u201d \u2014 \u201cTwo rivers quarreled\u201d \u2014 a popular Bosnian folk song also known as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sevdalinka<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Fo\u010da-born Zehra Deovi\u0107 lets Drina tussle with \u0106ehotina. It is a tale of two siblings, murky \u0106ehotina asking frigid Drina to wait for her and a love interest. The rivers&#8217; temperament in this song reflects a specific event in the early 18th century in which the two rivers strayed from their boundaries and flooded over 200 houses in Fo\u010da. The rivers have overflowed, threatened and shaped people\u2019s bodies and minds for many centuries.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A saying in Bosnian (Croatian\/Serbian) states that winding Drina can&#8217;t be straightened, alluding to nature&#8217;s untouchable force over humankind. Nonetheless, many attempts have been made to straighten the river and its tributaries, primarily through efforts to generate hydropower out of their powerful water flows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e5ac4df elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e5ac4df\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-12e3f94\" data-id=\"12e3f94\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42771d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"42771d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>One such attempt has affected the river Bjelava, Drina\u2019s tributary nine kilometers upstream from Fo\u010da&#8217;s town center, where it cuts through thick forests of hornbeam, beech and oak.\u00a0<\/p><p>In 2018, Gordan Pavlovi\u0107,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cin.ba\/gocijeva-imperija\/\" target=\"_blank\">a main investor in Fo\u010da<\/a>, signed a concession agreement with Republika Srpska\u2019s Ministry of Energy and Mining to construct a series of small hydropower plants on the Bjelava. As opposed to traditional hydrodams and their massive reservoirs, small dams rely on running river water, thereby requiring significant modifications to the waterbed and riverbanks. Although branded as key for transitions to clean, green power,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/balkanrivers.net\/sites\/default\/files\/Riverwatch_Black_catalogue_PDF.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">research shows that such small plants are ineffective at generating water power<\/a>\u00a0and disproportionately damage small waterways\u2019 fragile ecosystems.<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In early 2020, Pavlovi\u0107 commenced so-called preparatory works on Bjelava. Even though environmental regulations in Republika Srpska are few and far between, it became clear that Pavlovi\u0107 had no right to dam. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/czzs.org\/construction-of-shpp-on-bjelava-and-mala-bjelava-rivers-every-country-has-a-mafia-but-here-the-mafia-has-its-country\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The concession agreement did not include construction permits<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Pavlovi\u0107 dug his first shovels in Bjelava\u2019s soil anyway, making full use of governmental and protest paralysis due to local COVID-19 curfews.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7cb1d85\" data-id=\"7cb1d85\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca95c67 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ca95c67\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">BiH legal\/constitutional structure<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cb954a1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cb954a1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">By signing the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina was constitutionally divided into two sub-national governmental bodies: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Republika Srpska, alongside the Br\u010dko District. The town of Fo\u010da is located in Republika Srpska, as is the majority of Podrinje: of its 346 kilometers, the river Drina flows through the Federation for only 25 kilometers. The Serbian and Bosnian Serb leadership's violent goal of establishing a Greater Serbia did not result in sovereign statehood, but the post-war structure does recognize the territorial space that was violently claimed during the war. <br> <br>\n\nPolitical scientists have analyzed how Republika Srpska attempts to act as a sovereign state actor, a para-state claiming to represent Serbs in Bosnia. This liminal state of existence \u2014 unable to secure international recognition but bestowed with extensive sub-state jurisdiction \u2014 has proven especially contentious in regard to claims to Drina. In principle, the Republika Srpska Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water holds jurisdiction on Republika Srpska\u2019 waterways. In 2020, however, its agreement with Serbia on Drina's hydro-economic exploitation was ruled unconstitutional by Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s highest court, as sub-national entities are not allowed to interfere with Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereign boundaries \u2014 the Drina as the natural border between the country and Serbia, in this case.  <\/p>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6f190d1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6f190d1\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f18577e\" data-id=\"f18577e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b10e165 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b10e165\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmental impact studies, hydrological inspections and opaque public consultation only started after citizens&#8217; protests and legal disputes. Bjelava is one of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/captured-rivers\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">many rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina whose flow has been disrupted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In the summer of 2024, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/balkaninsight.com\/2024\/08\/21\/victorious-una-river-protests-a-symbol-of-resistance\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dangerous damming on the rivers Una<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/balkanrivers.net\/en\/news\/great-victory-for-the-citizens-of-the-neretvica-valley-the-concession-contract-terminated\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neretva<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was ordered to stop, rewarding local river activists\u2019 relentless, round-the-clock labor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction on Bjelava has been put on hold, too, but with impact studies still underway, uncertainty remains. The environmental damage, however, has been done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thick bureaucratic clouds of citizen participation and court cases lift only when one walks on Bjelava&#8217;s banks. The preparatory works have severely impacted the river: a wide dirt road slices through the remaining forest, river edges have been deeply dug into, broad pipes dangle in the air and a previous meander has been straightened with tons of soil. These are Pavlovi\u0107&#8217;s destructive attempts to tame the river.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2024, Pavlovi\u0107 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capital.ba\/pavgord-preko-laktasa-do-koncesija-za-mhe-u-foci\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">acquired concessions for three small hydrodams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the \u0106ehotina, adding to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/riverwatch.eu\/sites\/default\/files\/uploads\/Studien\/Balkan_HPP_Update_2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">411 plants being constructed or planned across Bosnia and Herzegovina as of 2022<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-57d55f2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"57d55f2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-62a8468\" data-id=\"62a8468\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2a88683 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2a88683\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1825\" height=\"1079\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/hydropower.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-116985\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\"><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-79399df elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"79399df\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-181730d\" data-id=\"181730d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7e4afa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b7e4afa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some, the rivers are liquid gold mines; their currents are the political connections into local and national centers of power. But when we listen to the river&#8217;s gurgling sounds, take a breath and inhale the fresh forest air, we can remind ourselves that the Bjelava, flowing towards the big Drina, is more than an economic imagination; it is a meeting place of natural life and socio-cultural existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b>Drina as a border to violence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout the 20th century, Drina was instrumentalized as a natural symbol of the nation, supporting violent territorial claims. In the 1930s, Fascist Ustasha leaders theorized about an extension of their Croatian homeland into Podrinje, with Drina as the easternmost Catholic bulwark against Orthodoxy, sustaining this myth well after World War II had ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even earlier, the river had become a symbol of Serbian sacrifice after a successful World War I military campaign in Podrinje against Austro-Hungarian forces. In the \u201cMarch on the Drina,\u201d the river is asked to sing, to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tekstovi-pesama.com\/narodna-pesma\/mars-na-drinu\/35089\/1\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remember the fallen soldiers who turned the cold river into a bloody stream<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and \u201cexpelled the foreigner from our dear river.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9a5707e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9a5707e\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a11ea82\" data-id=\"a11ea82\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ba44170 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ba44170\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>It is this dual image of Drina as a boundary and a lifeline that has been cultivated in mythologies where cultural imagination and deadly political projects meet. From the 1980s, the river took a central place in the nationalist project of Greater Serbia, and therefore underpinned the mass violence that unfolded against Bosnian Muslims in the Drina basin in the decade that followed.\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">To Serbian and Bosnian Serb leadership, Drina should have ceased to be a border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/span><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\"> Upon proclaiming the Serb-controlled Republika Srpska in Bosnia in 1992, Serbian President Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 said <\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: -0.1px;\" href=\"https:\/\/ilmijja.ba\/ojs\/index.php\/casopis1\/article\/view\/1626\/1570\" target=\"_blank\">Drina was the spine of the nation, the essential backbone of a Serbian national anatomy<\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">. Republika Srpska\u2019s political elite composed the Serbian body differently, considering the river <\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: -0.1px;\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.sensecentar.org\/vijesti.php?aid=13194\" target=\"_blank\">the nation\u2019s windpipe, connecting the two lungs<\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">. But whether lungs or a vertebral skeleton, Drina provided the natural flow and connection of Serb lives on either side of the riverbed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4fa82fb\" data-id=\"4fa82fb\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-90c8a21 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"90c8a21\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"592\" height=\"844\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/map_lesswhite.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-117025\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6ad5ee9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6ad5ee9\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f3a66f2\" data-id=\"f3a66f2\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d27c5e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d27c5e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Very shortly thereafter, the partnership between nationalist myths of nature and territorial violence became reality. In May 1992, Bosnian Serb political leadership translated the alleged restoration of the exclusively Serb natural body into\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icty.org\/x\/cases\/slobodan_milosevic\/tdec\/en\/040616.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">officially stated military goals<\/a>. A Drina corridor was one of those primary targets, in order to unite the allegedly Serbian lands and people separated by Drina. Bosnian Serb military leaders understood the implication, that this unification meant a violent eradication of Podrinje\u2019s Bosnian Muslim inhabitants. The Bosnian rivers Una and Neretva had to form the outer edges of the new Serb homelands.<\/p><p><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">In the month prior, this political myth of a Serb Drina had been violently operationalized across the river&#8217;s 350 kilometers. <\/span><a style=\"background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: -0.1px;\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/yale-scholarship-online\/book\/21595?login=false\" target=\"_blank\">Bosnian Serb armed forces started besieging<\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\"> Bijeljina on April 1, 1992, Fo\u010da and Zvornik on April 8, Vi\u0161egrad on April 13, Srebrenica on April 18 and Gora\u017ede on May 2. These towns, apart from their shared Podrinje location, all had majority Bosnian Muslim populations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scholar Edina Be\u0107irevi\u0107 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/yalebooks.yale.edu\/book\/9780300192582\/genocide-on-the-drina-river\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has shown how these attacks involved months of logistical preparation and communication<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> between political leadership in Bosnia and Serbia \u2014 local Serb Democratic Party (SDS) politicians \u2014 and military commanders from Belgrade-coordinated Yugoslav People&#8217;s Army (JNA) and the Bosnian Serb army.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This documented coordination of mass violence is the most important argument to refute popular discourse in today\u2019s Republika Srpska and Serbia, which interprets the Bosnian war as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/newlinesmag.com\/review\/a-literary-consecration-of-genocide-denial\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a conflict of chaotic revenge on all sides<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After Bosnian Serb leaders <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">took control <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of Fo\u010da in April 1992, repression began. First, Bosnian Muslims were not allowed to go to work. This quickly escalated into destruction of properties and arrest and abduction of Bosniak civilians. Those who saw a chance fled town, but not everyone could.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-22f1939 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"22f1939\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e2053b3\" data-id=\"e2053b3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e30849 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"8e30849\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111188\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_110325-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of Fo\u010da\u2019s Bosnian Muslim men disappeared in fast-flowing Drina. This photo was taken in March 2022. Photo: Michiel Piersma <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6d0b9b4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6d0b9b4\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d477551\" data-id=\"d477551\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-41d36df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"41d36df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across the municipality, detention centers were set up, in which people were subjected to inhumane conditions, torture and sexual violence. The Research and Documentation Center \u2014 a now-defunct nongovernmental organization dedicated to documenting war crimes during the Bosnian War \u2014 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/mnemos.ba\/ba\/home\/Atlas\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">concluded that a total of 2,707 people were killed in Foc\u030ca during the war<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, of which 1,515 were Bosniak civilians. Many of them disappeared into the Drina\u2019s cold, roaring depths. Survivors are still looking for more than 500 disappeared Fo\u010da men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scale of sexual violence in Fo\u010da can only be estimated. No precise statistics exist on the number of victims in Fo\u010da alone, but we know that detention centers operated throughout 1992, up until February 1993. Over 10 men were convicted of wartime rape by the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icty.org\/x\/cases\/zelenovic\/ind\/en\/foc-ii960626e.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (ICTY) and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zonaneodgovornosti.net\/digitalne-kolekcije\/zlocini-u-foci-1992-godine\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bosnian courts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and sentenced to prison sentences between eight and 34 years.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The convictions rested on many testimonies from Fo\u010da\u2019s Bosnian Muslim girls and women. Those kept in residential houses across town vividly remembered hearing \u201cMarch on the Drina,\u201d the military anthem depicting Drina as a bloody stream from which the foreigner was to be expelled; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/phdn.org\/archives\/www.ess.uwe.ac.uk\/documents\/sdrpt7b.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">when it would be played through the mosque\u2019s loudspeakers, the sexual violence would commence again<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><b>Drina\u2019s force in death and electricity<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Drina absorbed Bosnian Muslim victims of war crimes across Podrinje in World War II, and did so again in the 1990s. The perpetrators knew moving, living Drina would hide the bodies, and they knew all Podrinje towns were connected through it. A military commander in Vis\u030cegrad<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-oJW0HGwNKg?feature=shared&amp;t=2818\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told its victims<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cI\u2019ll slaughter you and throw your body into Drina and have you float to Z\u030cepa. We\u2019ll let Z\u030cepa see what we in Vis\u030cegrad can do,\u201d referring to a town downstream that would be ethnically cleansed soon, too. Drina&#8217;s physical depths render knowing the exact number of river killings impossible, but reports have shown that it was common practice, especially in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13602004.2017.1294374\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vis\u030cegrad<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zonaneodgovornosti.net\/digitalne-kolekcije\/zlocini-u-foci-1992-godine\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foc\u030ca<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only occasionally does Drina release its dead, and only there where humans have tried to tame the river. Just downstream of Vis\u030cegrad, Peru\u0107ac is an artificial lake on Drina created by the construction of a large hydrodam. In 2010, the lake emptied when the dam\u2019s turbines had to be repaired, which uncovered hundreds of human remains, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/genocideinvisegrad.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/perucac-prilog-tabele.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">163 of which were identified through DNA testing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The remains belonged to Bosnian Muslims from across Podrinje, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/genocideinvisegrad.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/saopc5a1tenje-za-javnost-perucac.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">including Vis\u030cegrad and Fo\u010da<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The lake exhumations were rushed and left incomplete, pressured by the hydroelectric company&#8217;s wish to fill up the lake again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only a few kilometers downstream from where Mila, her friends and I started paddling for the Drinska Avantura, the Buk Bijela hydroelectric dam has been in the works since the early 1970s. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ba.boell.org\/sites\/default\/files\/rijeka_bez_povratka_3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decades of plans, environmental concerns and failed loans followed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, until the foundation stone was laid in 2021 by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/foca-24.info\/vijest\/694\/polozen-kamen-temeljac-za-he-buk-bijela-novi-pocetak-u-odnosima-srpske-i-srbije\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Radovan Vi\u0161kovi\u0107 and Ana Brnabi\u0107, the then<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-prime minister of Serbia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which was a major investor.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Construction <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bankwatch.org\/project\/buk-bijela-the-upper-drina-cascade\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has since been halted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to a lack of finances and inadequate environmental impact studies. In a waiting room of uncertainty not unlike the one Pavlovi\u0107 has built on the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bjelava<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Bosniak Foc\u030caci fear that concreting the Drina here eliminates the possibility of ever finding their missing loved ones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the war, Buk Bijela was used as an execution site, and in 2006, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/preporod.info\/bs\/article\/27583\/konjo-uzunovic-gradnjom-he-buk-bijela-zatrpavaju-i-betoniraju-istinu-o-ubistvu-bosnjaka-u-foci\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remains of 43 men from Foc\u030ca were found<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Concreting the riverbed would seal the fate of any bodies hidden at Buk Bijela, but Republika Srpska authorities, the hydroproject&#8217;s instigators, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/balkans.aljazeera.net\/videos\/2023\/1\/8\/porodice-vjeruju-da-buk-bijela-krije-vise-od-stotinu-nestalih\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do not seem to be considering a search operation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousereports.com\/investigation\/europes-nameless-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keeps on swallowing the politically marginalized<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and green hydro-capitalists keep on attempting to tame Drina<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Buk Bijela&#8217;s case illustrates Foc\u030ca&#8217;s issues with capitalist environmental degradation and repressed legacies of violence. Foc\u030ca, and Podrinje as a whole, is a riverine community where river death and deadly nationalism meet. Worlds in which water is life, in which the river determines the flow of the past, present and future, are driven by dialectic forces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b>Abandonment as a political choice<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Climbing a short, steep road from Fo\u010da&#8217;s yellow bridge across Drina leads to a two-story Austro-Hungarian-era building with a small field in front. Wide views across the town center, Drina and its surrounding hills open up from the fenced edge of the field. On our walks through town, my friends like to bring me here to soak in the views, but also to show me the lost potential of such a place for Fo\u010da&#8217;s youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the height of summer, the weeds and wildflowers flourish, covering the entire field except for an empty patch of tiles in the middle. A single rubbish bin attached to the fence, and the concrete legs of a disappeared bench are evidence that this has ceased to be a field for socializing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the war, the building next to the field \u2014 locally known as Partizan \u2014 was a location where Bosniak women and girls from Fo\u010da were detained and subjected to torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. The crimes were committed in the heart of the town community. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zoneofnonresponsibility.net\/sportska-dvorana-partizan\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia court hearings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> show close involvement of Republika Srpska military, local political leadership and Fo\u010da&#8217;s police force.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, the Partizan building hosts Fo\u010da&#8217;s table tennis, self-defense and arts societies. The violence has fallen into oblivion. On one of my visits, a single white rose lay on the building&#8217;s steps, a lonely reminder of an annual commemoration of the war crimes that took place a couple weeks prior. After the event at Partizan, members of the Foc\u030ca 92-95 War Victims Association walk to the bridge across Drina, where they throw hundreds of white roses in the river, to mark the loss of Bosniak men that are still missing. Neither Fo\u010da&#8217;s mayor nor any other local or national political representative expressed willingness to attend the event, leaving the commemoration on the fringes of Foc\u030ca\u2019s political landscape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Local authorities sustain the political and societal emptiness of the field above Drina. Different people have been met with resistance when trying to address its potential. Already in 2004, the Women Victims of War Association requested a monument for the Partizan victims, which was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/unigerc.unsa.ba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Kultura_sjecanja_-_FMA.pdf.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">denied by then-Mayor Zdravko Krsmanovi\u0107<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, under the logic that suffering had taken place on all sides. The same year, a war monument honoring the suffering of Foc\u030ca\u2019s Serb \u201cdefenders\u201d was erected in the town center.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-dcf48fb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"dcf48fb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6f6ce9e\" data-id=\"6f6ce9e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e8d7cab elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e8d7cab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1672\" height=\"1254\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111394\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min.jpg 1672w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20220812_131605-min-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">The Partizan field in August 2022. Photo: Michiel Piersma <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ad49b76\" data-id=\"ad49b76\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d1b066 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6d1b066\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1672\" height=\"1254\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111397\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min.jpg 1672w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20230603_125910-min-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">The same Partizan field in June 2023. Photo: Michiel Piersma <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4848d12 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4848d12\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4a08c51\" data-id=\"4a08c51\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b85a0b7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b85a0b7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More recently, a group of Foc\u030ca youth applied for a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbbih.com\/foca\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">participatory budget<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">funded by the International Organization for Migration and British embassy \u2014 to revive the Partizan field. Their proposal included installing park furniture and lighting, planting trees and plants and repairing and repainting the entrance gate. Moreover, given the group\u2019s experience with painting graffiti, the renovated park would be decorated with murals of, as the proposal put it, \u201cpeace and friendship.\u201d The budget was part <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of a public tender, and did not receive the most votes.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Instead, a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid03a9LCe856BrKojZX2i8xHnqXqBAdcpmFGRJRf6zEKQAAKF3B3tmegBbyhpoe8pgcl&amp;id=376792692701825\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">project on diabetes prevention was selected for the participatory budget<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foc\u030ca\u2019s Bosnian Muslim victims of Republika Srpska\u2019s destructive campaign are never invoked in name by local youth, nor is the violence that took place at the Partizan site ever referred to. \u201cPeace and friendship\u201d is the motto of an undefined future that Bosnia\u2019s youth have learned to deploy, as a result of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maxwell.syr.edu\/research\/article\/citizens-of-an-empty-nation-youth-and-state-making-in-postwar-bosnia-and-herzegovina\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">international community\u2019s post-conflict dream<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of interethnic reconciliation. That Stefan only thinks of friends and adventure tourists when saying the rivers have its victims is an expected result of Republika Srpska\u2019s denial of war wrongdoings across its systems of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/we-learn-the-past-differently\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">education<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/back-to-the-beginning-of-the-millennium\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">media<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kosovotwopointzero.com\/en\/remembering-the-vilina-vlas-women\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">public life<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The broken benches, the flourishing wildflowers and the refusal to commemorate missing Bosniak Foc\u030caci<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are all forms of<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">active abandonment; neglect as a political solution to not address legacies of mass violence or precarious futures of local youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b>Youth&#8217;s joy and future of the rivers<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Foc\u030ca, a young person\u2019s summer\u2019s day takes place on a beach by the river. Drina and \u0106ehotina are accompanied by countless small beaches, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kupali\u0161te<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: pebbly or sandy, central to a neighborhood or hidden from the road, in the city center or a short drive out of town. Each beach carries a new anecdote. A small one by the municipal stadium is where entire generations had their first swimming lessons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier, Mila mentioned a large rock, a popular jumping platform into the river. The adjacent beach was a favorite of man<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">y, Sr\u0111an explains, and on hot days the entire place was covered by towels. Central to its popularity is the location: as the easternmost beach in town, it catches the sun for up to 90 minutes longer than the municipal swimming pool alongside Drina. Stojan and his friends, contrastingly, would walk to a beach out of town, hop in old tractor tires serving as <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">giant swimming rings and float down the river back to town, a journey that ideally took up their entire day.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The arrival of the city pools in 2013 have changed swimming in Foc\u030ca dramatically. The pools allow young children to learn to swim without having to fear unpredictable river streams. They are immensely popular with families and schoolchildren in summer and get busier than any of the river beaches. They are however not to be equated, my friends stress. The pool water can be warm and dirty, and there are not many spots available to hide from the scorching sun. River swimming offers incomparable sensations: cold and wild Drina, and calm and inviting \u0106ehotina. \u201cEvery city has its pool. But not every city has such a river with so many beaches. It\u2019s completely different. The swimming, it is different,\u201d Sr\u0111an says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3750922 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3750922\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-51bf232\" data-id=\"51bf232\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-21d03e8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"21d03e8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111191\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20220308_111156-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">The opening of a public swimming pool in Fo\u010da has changed possibilities for summer recreation for Podrinje youth. Photo: Michiel Piersma<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cc179f7\" data-id=\"cc179f7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4412ab5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4412ab5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111182\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20210810_084456-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Construction to build a new gas station next to the Drina has destroyed parts of the riverbank. Photo: Michiel Piersma<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2e3a06c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2e3a06c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0a31291\" data-id=\"0a31291\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9c2de77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9c2de77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The differences in swimming joy that the arrival of the pools have brought out, are experienced best at the confluence of cold, temperamental Drina and friendly, meandering \u0106ehotina, directly behind the pools. The confluence is a central, much-loved spot in to<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wn; it is Simeon&#8217;s spot <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to sit down, turn himself to the sun and listen to the river.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These days, the place looks somewhat disregarded. The asphalt footpath along the pools turns into an overgrown, faint track towards the confluence. The beach finds itself at a dead end, a feeling which is reinforced by its overall state. Patches of grass dot the ground; food packaging and broken beer bottles are scattered around. The place is used occasionally for rafts to disembark, but the landing strip is steep and muddy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My friends have deep-seated worries about the state of the rivers and their beaches. These concerns showcase an intimate association with the water similar to the unencumbered joys of summer swimming. Apart from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lHDy-iCZ_EY&amp;ab_channel=RTCG-Zvani%C4%8Dnikanal\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">looming hydropower plans on both \u0106ehotina<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Drina, other forces threaten the rivers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Milos\u030c recalls a much-loved former beach along Drina, sandy with lots of natural shade, which had to make way for a new gas station. This encapsulates the dire state that this riverine town is in, Milos\u030c thinks, which allows an investor to \u201cdestroy the childhood of an entire neighborhood that is already dying out. He\u2019ll earn some money while the kids can\u2019t gather there anymore, you know. At the expense of ecology. At the expense of someone else\u2019s childhood.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2019, \u0106ehotina suddenly turned white, and large numbers of dead fish floated to the river&#8217;s surface. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mina.news\/vijesti-iz-crne-gore\/steta-zbog-ekoloskog-incidenta-3546-hiljada-eur\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cause of this destruction<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was found to be the uncontrolled discharge of industrial wastewater from a thermal power plant across the border in Montenegro. The pollution has negatively affected the water&#8217;s smell, and its allure as a river for leisure. And although <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oslobodjenje.ba\/vijesti\/bih\/sta-se-desava-ne-zagrijava-se-samo-more-rijeke-na-podrucju-bh-grada-nikad-nisu-bile-toplije-970103)\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recent spikes in river water temperature<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have drawn huge numbers of people to the beaches once again, this is likely a prelude to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/documents1.worldbank.org\/curated\/pt\/183341530114587734\/pdf\/Roof-Report-Drina-River-Basin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">projected climate change-driven intensification of droughts and heatwaves<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Podrinje.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In spite of ecological and capitalist disasters hurting the rivers, Drina and its tributary \u0106ehotina are still alive; they meander their way through Foc\u030ca&#8217;s forests, they can be swum in, they make Foc\u030ca into that unique \u201ccity on two rivers.\u201d But Foc\u030ca&#8217;s youth have a keen eye for change and loss in their everyday landscapes. A river&#8217;s water becomes less clear, dead fish come to the surface, a river loses its fresh smell, a water park arrives, empty beer cans dominate a river beach, a local businessman builds a gas station, a childhood gets destroyed and a neighborhood dies out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As my friends spoke of such losses, and of the fear of losing more, I was not always sure whether it is natural or human life that was referred to. But when they tried to define Foc\u030ca, it became a town delineated by Drina and \u0106ehotina as it outer edges, the mountain Magli\u0107 as the town\u2019s roof, and its total of 17 rivers as a degree of size. Foc\u030caci are <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">prirodnjaci<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, people of nature, or as Dorijan puts it, \u201cyou simply wouldn&#8217;t like asphalt if you live with this green, beautiful, healthy air around you.\u201d It became clear that such contests for water and land are in fact contests for life \u2014 of flowing rivers, of fish, of being able to listen to the river, of finding a summer job in a rafting camp, of a joyful childhood and of a neighborhood&#8217;s future generation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The attempted destruction of Drina&#8217;s tributary Bjelava is one of such contests where hydro-capitalist dreams of river control meet the multitudes of human and non-human life of the river.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bjelava-dweller <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?app=desktop&amp;si=sss_UYDQWhqA1M37&amp;v=morb217PXkA&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR09kcYxMNM1BWGLix2npEB-kEFnMv90g0m7-NIzNeje4PaRIpGHXZAvoJI_aem_xmtCcVaVr61siXV5LdZpVA&amp;ab_channel=AarhusCentaruBiH\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Milo\u0161 Vuji\u010di\u0107 finds words at a public consultation meeting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in March 2024:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cno one&#8217;s allowed to take the river, I guarantee that with my life. Water will have to flow, even if blood must flow with it.\u201d This is not terribly far removed from the Yugoslav term <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zavi\u010daj, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an embodied sense of attachment in which the person and the land cannot be detached. Podrinje\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zavi\u010daj <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was targeted in the 1990s, leading to the violent severance of Bosnian Muslim lives and the river.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"letter-spacing: -0.1px;\">Expulsion of riverine relations<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a late summer afternoon in 2021, Dorijan and I look out over the Partizan field, the site we visited before and that encapsulates the active abandonment of violent memories and socializing opportunities in Fo\u010da. Drina is not far away, and we hear it gurgling its way through its limestone waterbed a couple dozen meters below us. Our eyes are fixated on the broken benches, our feet hidden in the thriving weeds. Dorijan laments the council\u2019s rejection of the proposal for the field&#8217;s renewal that he and his friends submitted.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, the destruction of the field&#8217;s benches point at the contest of the shared lives of people and land (including water) in Fo\u010da and in Podrinje. There is a connection to the destruction of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bosniak lives in the Partizan building, whose walls we would touch if we stretched our arms, and to the obliterated Bosniak men in Drina directly below and across its 346 kilometer run. It is a destruction inextricable to the lifeless fish floating to \u0106ehotina&#8217;s surface, and to the irreversible damage to Bjelava&#8217;s riverbeds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The dilapidated benches are connected to gurgling Drina, and to the question how much longer a Fo\u010dak, a person of nature, can live with that nature if its health is being threatened from all sides. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina\u2019s flow connects the riverine joy of a town&#8217;s people with the unresolved stories of murdered Muslim men, a constellation of pleasure and violence not unlike the Mediterranean as a sunbathing hotspot and a water grave for migrating brown and black bodies.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to grasp the various dimensions of emptiness of the Balkans, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0090599220000422\/type\/journal_article\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">political anthropologists Larisa Kurtovi\u0107<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/berghahnjournals.com\/view\/journals\/focaal\/2023\/96\/fcl960106.xml\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ivan Rajkovi\u0107 understand that these destructions lead to not only people out-migrating<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but an expulsion of overall sociality \u2014 a sense that life becomes unlivable, that social relations cease to connect. This expulsion is a rather unassuming, quiet process, driven by past and present forces of (hydro)capitalist exploitation and ethnonational suffocation. As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/442544\/elixir-by-kassabova-kapka\/9781529920475\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kapka Kassabova<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> writes about the emptied-out Mesta river valley in Bulgaria, such forces produce a \u201cdevastating ecological and cultural disinheritance.\u201d They particularly thrive in rural, peripheral areas away from the view of political centers: Kassabova\u2019s Mesta basin, and Podrinje&#8217;s Vi\u0161egrad, Gora\u017ede and Fo\u010da.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-78abfbb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"78abfbb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-af9797d\" data-id=\"af9797d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ac6837 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6ac6837\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-111173\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/archive.kosovotwopointzero.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2021-08-29-17.38.51-min-326x245.jpg 326w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Environmental exploitation in the name of capitalist logic thrives in peripheral areas. Photo: Michiel Piersma.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2daec11 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2daec11\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bb9ad41\" data-id=\"bb9ad41\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a785f06 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a785f06\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This expulsion is not a homogenous process affecting everyone equally, simultaneously. In 1992, Bosnian Serb forces rendered large parts of Podrinje unlivable for Bosnian Muslims by driving them away from Drina, or leaving them lifeless in that very water. Expulsionist nationalism abruptly and violently suffocated the community\u2019s living bond with Drina.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three decades later, the people who still live with Drina due to the<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ir Bosnian Serb nationality are <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">faced with a powerful partnership of this same leadership with destructive hydrocapitalists. A similar expulsion of riverine sociality, but also so very different: although ecosystems suffer many losses, their human lives are not targeted, and the violence weakens riverine relations gradually over time.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the Partizan field, as Dorijan reaches for the straws of sociality that remain in the wake of the refused proposal, he says, \u201cSomething\u2019s got potential. Not just Partizan, all of Fo\u010da. It can be so beautiful and nice.\u201d What he is getting at is that the potential of Fo\u010da as much depends on the landscape as it does on people within it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drina encompasses life and death; unencumbered summer rafting memories flourish side-by-side with silenced burdens of lost Bosniak life. The river is a site of creation and destruction; unique bonds rooted in love and care are forged between its water and its people, while others have been violently attacked by individuals, their ideologies, bulldozers and arms. Powerful water flows generate electricity, but come at the expense of irreversible losses of fish, plants, carbon storage and water itself. What can be the future for riverine Foc\u030ca and Podrinje, when such opposing forces collide?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many thanks to Katarina Ku\u0161i\u0107, Gemma Bird and Roderick Witjas for sharing their indispensable thoughts and suggestions.<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><b>Feature Image:\u00a0Michiel Piersma.<\/b><\/p><p><b>Illustrations by Dina Hjarullahu \/ K2.0.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9bc104a elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9bc104a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-80bb44d\" data-id=\"80bb44d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f9c491c elementor-widget-divider--view-line_icon elementor-view-default elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"f9c491c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon 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c7.2-0.2,11.6,3.2,13.9,11c3.1,10.2,2,20.8,2.4,31.2c0.1,2.2-1.1,2.4-2.8,2.4C523.9,335.6,519.6,335.6,515.2,335.6z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ff2800f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ff2800f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bb54178\" data-id=\"bb54178\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ab4343 elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-104647 elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5ab4343\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><em>D\u00ebshironi t\u00eb mb\u00ebshtetni gazetarin\u00eb ton\u00eb?<\/em><\/strong><\/p><p>N\u00eb Kosovo 2.0, p\u00ebrpiqemi t\u00eb jemi shtyll\u00eb e gazetaris\u00eb s\u00eb pavarur e me cil\u00ebsi t\u00eb lart\u00eb, n\u00eb nj\u00eb epok\u00eb ku \u00ebsht\u00eb gjithnj\u00eb e m\u00eb sfiduese t\u2019i mbash k\u00ebto standarde dhe ta ndjek\u00ebsh t\u00eb v\u00ebrtet\u00ebn dhe llogaridh\u00ebnien pa u frik\u00ebsuar. 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