In the year PERSPEKTIVA began broadcasting, statements by young people often sparked stormy reactions in the public, mostly from those in power. Among them, the strongest reaction was triggered by a statement made by a young man from Mostar about the city’s ethnic divisions. That was in 2015. Exactly 11 years later, in January 2026, a statement by a young woman from Mostar once again provoked strong public reaction.
Both statements, made by young people, Nasiha and Ante, address the same issue, with the same sadness, and point in the same direction. However, the first major public outcry, with hundreds of reactions, was caused by Ante’s statement in 2015
“I am not allowed to go to the left bank, and yes, I have never been to the Old Bridge. So, The Old Bridge that the whole world knows Mostar for – I, a native of Mostar, have never been there. Because I’m not allowed. These incidents happen on both sides, and we, the younger generation, should move away from that. There are more of us who don’t want these incidents than those who do. It’s just that we end up following the ones who start them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oAQDv2HQo0
Ante also stated that, in his view, physical differences can be noticed among people of different nationalities.
“Well, I don’t know… you can see it in facial features, darker skin tone in Bosniaks, at least here in Mostar. I don’t know how it is elsewhere. I don’t really know how to explain it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oAQDv2HQo0
That is how Ante became a negative figure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, after filming, when the PERSPEKTIVA team took him to the Old Bridge, which was broadcast in the final episode – he became a hero. He concluded that he noticed no differences and that nothing had happened to him. Yet no one in Mostar asked who had taught this young man not to cross to the other side of the city in the first place. Now, eleven years later, a young woman from Mostar, Nasiha, says the following.
“We have an east side and a west side, divided literally. So, the situation is such that, for example, I, who live on the eastern side of Mostar, when I go to the western side, I don’t know half of my town at all, and the children from the western side are not familiar with our side either. I think that is very, very sad. We have no contact points. We have different schools, different universities. There is the ‘Džemal Bijedić’ University, and we also have the so-called ‘two schools under one roof,’ which is where the biggest problems arise. Everything is somehow masked by football rivalry and similar things, but that is just a mask for nationalism. That’s why it’s so common for adults to beat children because of the club they support, although we all know that’s not really the reason. One of my biggest fears is that our society will only get worse.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nck8d61LXK4
In this way, Nasiha revealed the essence of the problem: political interests have shaped society in Bosnia and Herzegovina in such a way that people are divided primarily by nationality, rather than by knowledge, values, or kindness.
“Children are increasingly poisoned as a result, and I’m afraid that there won’t be enough people in our city who think like I do, and like my colleague do.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nck8d61LXK4
“The entire society believes that the more you hate those on the other side, the more it proves that you love your own. And if you show love or understanding for someone on the other side of that invisible wall, you are labeled a ‘traitor,’ an ‘outlaw’, and in the wrong.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nck8d61LXK4
“At some point you simply realize that you’ve been dumbed down all your life, so to speak. And only when we mature to a certain extent do we start thinking with our own minds, realizing things for ourselves and figuring out how we should think, instead of what we were constantly taught. Not only by our parents, but also by teachers, professors, by adults in general, the very people who shaped our upbringing.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6tI2p_xVRU
The eleven years between Ante’s and Nasiha’s statements show only one thing: the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have failed to move beyond division, and it seems they are not even trying. And why would they? Divisions brought them to power, and divisions keep them there. That is why the idea that PERSPEKTIVA could publish another similar statement in ten years is even more tragic.
