Securitizing a European Borderland: The Bordering Effects of Memory Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Historically located at the crossroads of multiple political entities, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been constructed as a European borderland. Since the war of the 1990s, its ethnic and religious diversity has been framed as a security threat. European institutions and Member States are politically, economically and military involved in the state-building and reconciliation processes, set as part of BiH’s path towards the Union. In 2014, Sarajevo was placed at the “heart of Europe” in the opening commemoration of the First World War organized by European embassies and their Bosnian partners. The official narrative that pledged for a century of peace after the century of wars suggested the positive impact of European integration on BiH’s violent past. However, local activists claimed divergent interpretations, be it from a nationalist, anti-imperialist or emancipatory perspective. While the commemoration exulted national divisions, it contributed to the construction of BiH as an unstable borderland, which needs to be pacified. Relying on memory and border studies, this article demonstrates that the attempt to institutionalize a pacified memory of the war resulted in legitimizing the European institutions’ domination over Bosnian polity. In fine, it shows how memory politics participates in the securitization of a European borderland.