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Major Step to Reunification of Divided City
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The divided city of Mostar will take a step toward reunification when it holds local elections on May 31. The European Union administration announced the date of the vote on Tuesday. Mostar saw some of the worst fighting in Bosnia during 1994 clashes between Muslims and Croats. The city remained divided and tense even after the formation, under U.S. pressure, of a Muslim-Croat federation.

The European Union took over administration of the city in summer 1994 seeking to bring Muslims and Croats back together and prepare for elections. But the process has suffered many setbacks. The two halves of the city still lead separate lives.

The EU plan calls for establishment of a unique city council. Earlier this year, the city was divided into three Muslim-dominated districts and three Croat-dominated districts, and each of the six will have its own district council. Many former Mostar residents are refugees elsewhere, and it was unclear what impact they might have on the voting.

“They should do their best to come and cast ballots. It’s very difficult to organize voting abroad,” EU spokesman Dragan Gasic said. The lists of registered voters should be announced by May 10.

In another step towards reunification, the first permanent cement bridge directly connecting Croat- and Muslim-controlled sides of the city was opened for traffic Tuesday. It is the first permanent bridge built in Bosnia since the beginning of the war in 1992.


New Administrator Begins Tough Task of Making Mostar Functional
Mostar Quiet After Racial Borders Fall
For Peace in Mostar, Follow the Money Trail to Croatia
Mostar, A Tale of Two Cities by Berserkistan's Jim Bartlett
Mostar: Before and After its Devastation A site by Dubravko Kakarigi
Benvenuti in Guerra Gavino Paddeu chronicles Mostar's fall


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