Sarajevo’s COVID nightmare

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — COVID-19 is killing more civilians on a daily basis in Sarajevo than the Bosnian war in the 1990s, when the city experienced four years of shelling in the longest capital-city siege in modern warfare.

In March, the virus claimed over 18.5 lives per day, an average based on data from the Sarajevo public health agency. That compares to an average of 3.8 civilians slain every day during the 1,425 days of the siege.

On Tuesday, thousands of people braved the city’s freezing springtime weather to protest what they see as a lackluster political response to the pandemic in front of government and parliament buildings.

“We joined the protests as a family,” said Miranda Sidran, 51, who attended with her daughter, sister and brother. “We are here because we want our right to live to be respected.”

Comparisons to the war are apt in a country whose current political problems have largely been carried over from 1992-1995 conflict.

When the war ended, a decentralized system was put in place to appease the three main belligerents, who each claimed to represent the interests of its Bosniak, Croat and Serb ethnic groups.

The system devolves power to 14 administrative units — largely divided along lines created by the armies and aggressors during the war — so they each have a sense of determining their own fate.

Yet in a crisis like this one, this creates a devastating deadlock.

“A month ago, perhaps a thousand more people would have attended this protest. But now these people are dead because of COVID,” declared Sidran.

“When you see someone dying in front of you, you can’t stop and think about whose mandate it is to provide vaccines.”

Long lines form daily in front of funeral homes pushed to maximum capacity. Death notices for citizens of various ages, posted on walls and signposts all over the capital, are multiplying fast.

The explosion of cases is coupled with dismay over the government’s inability to secure enough vaccines.

“I have never been more ashamed of living in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Irma Plavčić, 38, a blogger and German language teacher. “Social networks are full of outbursts of anger at those who shape our destinies.”

Bosnian authorities decided to enter into direct negotiations with manufacturers once it became clear that deliveries from the global COVAX scheme would be significantly delayed.

However, in Bosnia, establishing precisely who is in power — and whose responsibility it is to lead negotiations — can be tough.

“Vaccine providers want to talk to governments,” said Damir Marjanović, professor of genetics and bioengineering at Sarajevo’s International Burch University. “But according to the Bosnian system, if the government fails to do something, then the canton can step in. This has been a cause for massive confusion among suppliers.”

Bosnia does not have a state-level health ministry.

Instead, responsibility for health matters is divided between its two subnational entities, the Serb-majority Republika Srpska in the north and east, and the Bosniak and Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There’s also an autonomous district in the north overseen by an internationally selected supervisor.

Adding to the complicated mix, the 10 cantons making up the Bosniak-Croat federation also have special powers on healthcare.

The convoluted system, based on the peace deal that ended the war, has long been blamed for holding back the country’s economic and social progress. Now COVID-19 has laid bare the rigidities of the ethnically-based bureaucratic tangle.

“The crisis just became another source of daily political bickering between political leaders,” said Marjanović.

‘A farce’

At the Sarajevo General Hospital, one of two facilities bearing the brunt of the crisis in the capital, COVID patients are furious.

“This catastrophe revealed that our system of government is a farce and that people are left to their own devices,” said Vedad Zulić, 41, an electrical engineer who was bedridden in a medium-risk ward. “Medical workers are forced to compensate for all their mistakes.”

Health professionals have been pulled out of retirement or reassigned to COVID wards from other departments. Vacations for medical staff have long been suspended.

As of last Sunday, 656 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus in the Sarajevo canton of 400,000 people, including 79 receiving oxygen support.

“None of us complain about working hours, conditions or overtime,” said Nihad Izmirlić, 36, a medical technician looking after COVID patients. “We are angry at the system for not securing vaccines. I put my health and the health of my family at risk to save the lives of as many citizens as possible, and we won’t give up even though we’re tired.”

Since speaking to POLITICO, Izmirlić and his wife became infected with the virus for a second time. They are being treated at home.

Wartime echo

Meanwhile Serbia, Bosnia’s eastern neighbor, is leading one of Europe’s fastest vaccination campaigns. It offers the BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, plus China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V.

Its procurement has been so successful that President Aleksandar Vučić has been donating vaccines to North Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Bosnia, as a tool to strengthen his influence in the region.

Reports that raised concern of a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and cases of fatal thrombosis led to Serbians eschewing those jabs for other options. With 25,000 AstraZeneca doses due to expire at the end of March, Vučić opened Serbia’s doors to anyone from the region who wanted a jab.

Bosnian citizens, including celebrities and politicians, drove en masse over the border to Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad. They are believed to make up most of the 22,000 foreigners who crossed into Serbia for jabs.

For many Bosnians, however, dependence on Vučić’s goodwill is a source of anger and humiliation.

As a young journalist and a member of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, Vučić supported the Bosnian Serb Army, whose senior commanders have since been convicted for widespread atrocities during the war. Vučić visited their positions during the shelling of Sarajevo.

Vučić has since recast himself as a mainstream conservative and pro-EU reformer.

Plavčić, the German teacher, was one of the many Bosnians who drove to Serbia to get vaccinated.

“I spent my whole life in Bosnia and Herzegovina and clearly remember the atrocities of the war,” she said. “Yet I am sincerely happy and grateful to Serbia for giving me and many of my fellow citizens the opportunity to protect ourselves with vaccines and, at least to a small extent, get closer to going back to a normal life.”

Failed country?

Despite the inefficiencies of the country’s post-war system, Srđan Blagovčanin, chairman of Transparency International in Bosnia, says politicians always seem to make things work when it benefits them directly.

“When you observe the behavior of the leaders of the country, you see that they have been on a mind-numbing spending spree lately,” said Blagovčanin. “In a situation where they failed to secure vaccines and basic medical supplies, they have purchased luxury vehicles for themselves.”

Even the few COVID-related purchases that have gone through were “grossly mismanaged, to the level of caricature,” he said. “Last year, they acquired face masks and respirators through a company that cultivates raspberries.”

The respirators in question are not even meant for COVID patients — they can only support patients in emergency cases for one hour, instead of providing the steady stream of oxygen critical patients need for hours. Local outlets report that many are faulty and do not work at all.

“All of this leads to the question – does Bosnia even have a government and institutions in the organizational or functional sense?” Blagovčanin asks. “Or is Bosnia a failed country that cannot provide elementary services for its citizens? Has it become lethal for its citizens?”

Want more analysis from POLITICO? POLITICO Pro is our premium intelligence service for professionals. From financial services to trade, technology, cybersecurity and more, Pro delivers real time intelligence, deep insight and breaking scoops you need to keep one step ahead. Email [email protected] to request a complimentary trial.