Personal Angle RCC in Sarajevo: The region thinks alike

  • 16 Dec 2014
  • Personal Angles
Sarajevo hosted RCC street instalations on 12 December 2014. (Photo: RCC)

Sarajevo hosted RCC street instalations on 12 December 2014. (Photo: RCC)

I was a part of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) team on the streets of Sarajevo last Friday (12 December) asking our fellow citizens about their problems, expectations, hopes but also for their opinions on the economy, transport facilities, education, culture, justice, regional cooperation…

It turned out that Sarajevans have the same problems, concerns and expectations like the people the RCC quizzed in Podgorica, Tirana, Skopje and Pristina; cities that the RCC team has already visited in the past month. We spoke with mothers, fathers, pensioners, students and professors, the unemployed, the employed, businessmen, firefighters, saleswomen, street-vendors and police officers. The answers we heard were not surprising.

Everyone wants an opportunity to have a good job, to be able to educate their children, to travel around the region, Europe and the world. They also want their politicians to act responsibly and to fulfill at least some of their election promises. They want to live in a prosperous country with higher standards of living than the one they have. They want to feel safe and secure. They see regional cooperation as an important tool for achieving all of these
goals.

None of the above was news to me; I live and share their lives. What struck me was my fellow citizens’ positive and open attitude; by being able to grasp the core essence of their problems and somehow still hold on to their optimism, believing in a better future that is yet to come. And having faith in the spirit of regional cooperation.

Sarajevo, thank you for that spirit and hospitality!

RCC’s street installations will continue next week. I am looking forward to talking to Belgraders on 23 December! The RCC team wants to hear how you feel about all of these issues.

Selma Ahatovic-Lihic