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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Bosnia: Living in two worldsBosnia and Herzegovina is a country living in two different worlds. On the surface it's more or less a quiet territory where ethnic killings have stopped, and where basic freedoms have been restored. In this world full of hope and optimism the NATO military mission will officially cease to exist by the end of 2004 and the truce enforcement force will then after be led by the European Union. In the less pleasant world of Bosnia, almost a million still prefer not to return to their home country. Many still try in vain to claim back their family properties. In this underside of the country that nobody likes to speak of, war criminals like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are still hiding from the justice. It isn't big surprise then that so many people prefer living outside this officially proclaimed calm country still full of newly found mass graves. To be perfectly honest, the situation in Bosnia 10 years ago looked quite desperate. Although not new as a phenomenon, the term of ethnic cleansing entered the scientific books following the massacre and displacements of more than 2 million in this Balkan country. Without the foreign military intervention Bosnia now could have been no more than a line in the history books. The NATO patrols may seem now obsolete; passing their days having cups of coffee at the local cafeterias, but 10 years ago their presence was a matter of life and death for millions on the ground. On the other hand, the shortage of bad news coming from Bosnia doesn't mean that this country has definitively turned off the page, that it's already one of the poor Balkan nations, waiting to be included in one of the next NATO and EU enlargements. Peace in this country meaning stability and no mass ethnic cleansings doesn't change the basic premise of this Bosnian society, its multiethnic face, and its past hatreds. Bosnia was first created as national identity not only in order to give every tribe equal power sharing in Tito's Yugoslavia but also to counterbalance the two most important national groups - Serbs and Croats. After the break-up of Yugoslavia it will be much harder to keep together these three nations within one country. It won't be impossible but it won't be an easy task. That's why Bosnia can't still be put together with countries like Bulgaria and Romania. It would be premature to look for real estate options in Bosnia, not because there isn't enough supply on the market, but because the clear property titles still represent a major hurdle for the investors, both foreign and local. The sales prices, easily going beyond $1,000/sq.m aren't low enough in order to pay off for the additional risks taken by the investors. Expecting the returning refugees to pay dear their new houses in the homeland won't make the prices more attractive, at least in a short term.
Bosnia and Herzegovina profile:
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