The South Eastern European country Bosnia and Herzegovina exists as one state.
But it's divided in two entities:
the Serb Republic of Srpska, which has it's own government
and the Croat-Bosniak federation.
Just like before the Balkan War of the 1990s,
the country is deeply divided between the three ethnic and religious groups.
The Muslim Bosniaks.
The Orthodox Serbs.
And the Catholic Croats.
I don't think Bosnia and Herzegovina can survive as it is now.
It is difficult: three nations that don't like each other.
It is true: we don't like each other. So we can hardly live together in harmony.
Or we will continue as we do now.
And what we have today is nothing. We argue and argue.
And it is in no one's interest.
Cedomir studies at Banja Luka University.
In the capital of the Serb entity the Republic of Srpska.
He only has one Muslim and one Croat fellow student.
The country's official, mostly Muslim populated capital Sarajevo
or Mostar, inhabited mostly by Bosniaks and Croats, have not often been visited by Cedomir.
Rarely. I have never been in Mostar. and to Sarajevo only once or twice.
For many in Banja Luka, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, feels much closer than Sarajevo.
Sports manifests this divide very well.
The international sports competitions are just one manifestation of
their indifference to the state they live in.
But Petar Kunic, professor at Banja Luka University, says
that is not important for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state.
I support Serbia, but that doesn't mean anything.
I could also support England or France.
It is people's right to choose which teams they support.
But they have to respect the laws of this state,
and other ethnicities they live with.
Whether they are supporting Bosnian or Serbian teams doesn't change that.
But the divide seems to reach far deeper than ones choice of sports team.
Professor Kunic's students were not very convinced of the idea
of marring a partner of a different ethnicity.
I never thought of it in that way.
There would probably be some problems,
or maybe not.
I don't know.
I have nothing against them, they are great people.
But I can't imagine having a Muslim as boyfriend or a husband.
I wouldn't mind. I am a patriot but love is love.
A few hundreds kilometers away lies Mostar.
The centre of one of a few regions with a significant Croat population.
Sociology Professor at Mostar University, Slavo Kukic, says his research and personal experience
indicate that Bosnia and Herzegovina is becoming even more segregated than before.
In general, Bosnia and Herzegovina is known as a place with a high percentage of mixed marriages.
It was about 20% according to the data from 1991.
Today, the number of such marriages is only a few per year.
The divide people feel may someday become reality again.
15 years have passed since the war ended.
The level of trust between its ethnical communities is still not at an acceptable level.
Besides that we have the political elites which are intentionally fostering the gap
between the ethnic groups and as such serve their own selfish interests.
In this situation we do not see the future could be a satisfactory one.
The two current entities were set up in 1995 by the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Bosniak's political leaders often say this agreement needs to be changed
in order for the more centralized country to function better.
But the current government of the Republic of Srpska disagrees.
Announcing that in case its autonomy is threatened it would call a referendum
for independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Back in Banja Luka, the students contemplate what they would vote for
if that referendum was tomorrow.
For independence.
Why?
So we can be what we really are: the Republic of Srpska.
I wouldn't vote for independence
and the secession of the Republic of Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Why?
Because Bosnia and Herzegovina is older than the Republic of Srpska. It exists longer.
And probably the "international factor" wouldn't recognize us.
If the Republic of Srpska was one state, it would be different.
Not too much, we would be a small state but maybe it would still be a little bit better.
It would be different.
For example, when we come to Serbia they tell us we are Bosnians.
We are not Bosnians, we are Serbs.
Everything is different between Serbs and Muslims.
Living in a state which might cease to exist tomorrow is not best for planning one's future.
All research done in the last 8 years shows that over 50% of young people
between 18 and 30 years old see their future abroad, in case they would get such an opportunity.
It is not because they don't like it here,
it is because here they don't see any chance to plan their lives in the next 15-20 years.
The scars of the early 1990s war have not yet healed.
And the question remains: how long the glue that binds the country will hold.