Erstellt am: 6. 4. 2012 - 17:19 Uhr

Peace But Little Unity in Bosnia

Reality Check: Bosnia 20 years on, Roma: Repatriations to Kosovo, the Pope takes on the Pfarrerinitiative, the fall of Umberto Bossi and a big box of noise

Bosnia: 20 years on

20 years ago today, just a few hours drive from Vienna, shots were fired on peace protesters in downtown Sarajevo, sparking a conflict in Bosnia that would eventually kill 100,000 people and displace half of the country`s 4.4 million people.

We all learned a new horrific term ethnic cleansing, to describe the systemised terrorising and slaughter of former neighbours. It was the worst bloodshed on European soil since the fall of the Nazis.

Today in Sarajevo 11,541 red chairs were lined up in rows along the city's main street — one for every man, woman and child killed in the siege that ended up being the longest in modern history.

It was not far away and it was no long ago.

Bosnian children play soccer behind a sniper barricade in Dobrinja, Sarajevo's frontline suburb during the siege of the city.

The war ended 16 years ago but on this day of commemoration is there anything positive to celebrate apart from that people are no longer killing each other?

I`ve heard nothing but doom and gloom in recent days. I learned that less than half of the 2 million driven from their homes have returned to the towns and villages they left. I heard of a politicised, ineffectivee and cumbersome bureaucracy ruling over a people still divided by religion and perceived ethnicity. This week the Guardian called the war "a constant excuse for dysfunction, as a bitter memory, a psychic scar and a malaise"

So I was interested to hear a more positive take on the situation from our Balkans expert Tim Judah: Despite sometimes dire predictions of a return to war, he says, "Bosnia, exists, functions more or less, and conflict, since 1995, has been contained within the political arena."

When you remember the vicious bloodshed that started 20 years ago then peace, even imperfect peace, is worth celebrating.

Hear more:

Roma: Repatriations to Kosovo

Imagine growing up as a migrant child in Germany, Europe`s most powerful economy, learning the language (including that notoriously difficult grammar!) and then finding yourself being forceably "repatriated" to Kosovo, a poor country of which you know little.

Following Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, the Kosovo authorities have come under increasing pressure from EU member states to accept returnees

Anesty Internationa says that the returnees arrive "often in the early hours of the morning with nothing but the clothes they are wearing".

Ahead of International Roma Day on Sunday, we hear about some of these cases involving Roma who then face difficulties in in obtaining access to education, healthcare, housing and social benefits:

The pope vs the Pfarrerinitiative

Pope Benedict has been commenting openly for the first time on the campaign of disobedience of the Austrian group of priests around Helmut Schüller, pushing for church reform. The dissidents would like to see women ordained as priests and an end to obligatory celibacy. What affect will the pontiff's words have here?

We speak to our veteran Vatican correspondent David Willey (he`s been reporting from Rome since 1972!) who says that "basically the Pope has shut the door and the priests are asking that he open it a chink." He adds that "either this pope or his successor will have to confront this issue at one point."

Umberto Bossi

We stayed in Italy for our next story.

Italian populist politician Umberto Bossi wooed north Italian voters by railing against corruption in southern Italy. His autonomist party once advocated a independent northern state to be called Padania.

Now Bossi has resigned as head of the Northern League after a financial scandal engulfed his own party. According to one report, tax-payers money was used to rent a Porsche car for Bossi's eldest son. Volatile in his choice language and autocratic in his style of leadership, Bossi was the Northern League for many people . With their talisman gone and their corruption white vests stained, what is the future for the remnants of the Northern League?

I discussed these issues with our Rome correspondent Josephine McKenna

Marshall Amps

And finally the death of a man who shaped music history

Jim Marshall, the man who invented those iconic amplifiers, has left this earth but the sound he created lives on in recording studios and stages across the world. With the help of a guitar hero we look at what made his boxes full of wires, electronics & speakers so unique.

Hear the programme after the show via Podcast or at fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.