So close, and yet so far.
Isak Gaši, Bosnia, and the European Union
“I can see it right there,” Mr. Gaši said, reaching his hand out in front of him. The room grew quiet after this gesture, as the assembled audience waited intently to hear the conclusion of the statement. Mr. Gaši’s words had created this gripping effect continuously throughout the evening, as the emotion and rawness of nearly every sentence was enough to keep those gathered on the edge of their seat.
His story is a riveting one. In the 1980s, Isak Gaši was a top-tier Bosnian athlete who represented Yugoslavia in canoeing in the Olympics and numerous International Championship competitions. Yet as a rising tide of nationalism slowly gripped the Balkans and the Bosnian war erupted, Gaši was soon moved to Luka Brčko camp where he was tortured and subject to brutal human rights violations — until he was released at the eleventh hour and, along with his wife and infant daughter, subsequently fled north to Denmark where the family was granted asylum. Only months later, Gaši found himself as a lead prosecution witness at the International Criminal Trials for the Former Yugoslavia, coming face to face with former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and others indicted for war crimes.
The totality of his incredible journey has recently been captured in the autobiography “Eyewitness: My Journey to The Hague.” On Monday, October 1st, Isak Gaši traveled to the Delegation of the European Union to the United States to speak about his book.
“I wanted to show what happens when you give your word to the wrong people,” Mr. Gaši stated when asked why he chose to recount his harrowing tale. He explained that he, like many others, was initially intrigued by Milošević when he first rose to power, hooked by the Serbian politician’s incredible speaking skills and charisma. These trends only repeat themselves, Mr. Gaši warned, saying: “I wanted (the book) to show people to be vigilant, and to have them read it from experience.”
Following Gaši’s emotional retelling, he was joined by Johns Hopkins’ Edward P. Joseph and the European Union’s Dino Mihanović for a panel to discuss the war in Bosnia, the trials that followed, and where the region stands today.
“War is politics played out through other means,” Mr. Joseph claimed, affirming the famous Carl von Clausewitz quote and confirming Mr. Gaši’s warning of vigilance. “This was the case in Bosnia, and it is still now.” When asked about the impact of the trials that followed, Joseph declared The Hague to have been both a success and a failure. “It held people accountable,” he said, “but at the same time, it didn’t foster a view of reconciliation — and that was needed.”
As the evening’s conversations then shifted to how such atrocities can be prevented in the future, the European Union arose as a potential sign of hope. Mr. Mihanović explained that the EU has been a “game-changer” in the region, showing that “the same stability provided to Western Europe can also be supplied to the Western Balkans.” He finished his statement by asserting that “the real prevention of future war is in investment in peace projects like the European Union.”
Mr. Gaši, who had been silent for quite some time, then raised his voice again. He stated agreement with Mihanović’s declaration; the European Union is indeed a sign of hope, and certainly a sign of positive growth when it comes to rebuilding from the war. It has worked well for Croatia and for Slovenia, he explained — but it is taking a longer time for Bosnia, as the country is struggling to foster a unified governmental effort to become a part of the EU. Therefore, Gaši sees Bosnian EU membership as a distant desire.
“I was back there just a couple of years ago,” he explained. “My wife and I ate dinner at a very nice restaurant on the river Sava, which serves as the border between Bosnia and Croatia in the northeast part of the country. But as I am sitting there eating, I am looking across the river, at Croatia…I am looking at the EU, at stability and peace. I can see it right there,” he said, reaching out his hand toward the audience, which listened with baited breath. “But it’s still so, so far away.”
