Bosnia-Herzegovina

During the civil war of the early 1990s, the morning fog in mountainous Bosnia and Herzegovina was a blessing to those under siege. It gave them cover while they ventured out on rooftops to survey the damage from the previous day’s bombardments or scrambled along the streets to search for food.

These days, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina don’t have to wait for the fog before undertaking the daily tasks of assessing the damage to their country. The country has made considerable progress in improving its infrastructure since the war was officially halted at the end of 1995. There is commercial air service to Sarajevo and Banja Luka, and hotels are available there and in other major towns. Shopping malls are also beginning to appear, with the encouragement of foreign investors. Medjugorje, the religious shrine near the southern border with Croatia, draws thousands of pilgrims a year, adding tourist currencies to the local economy. The way the country is progressing economically and socially, the possibility of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the European Union may be a foreseeable accomplishment in the future.