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Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Last reviewed: 22 September 2009

Country information

HISTORY

Longer Historical Perspective

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War and changed its official title to Yugoslavia in 1929. Following the Second World War, communist Partisan Leader, Marshall Tito, took control of the country and ruled it for the next 40 years. Although presiding over a communist regime, Marshall Tito successfully steered his own path between East and West and was a founder member of the Non Aligned Movement of countries in the United Nations.

Recent History

Following Tito's death in 1980 Yugoslavia began slowly to disintegrate in a process that culminated in the Balkans wars of the early 1990s. Slovenia, Croatia and Republic of Macedonia declared their independence in 1991, BiH in 1992. The remaining republics Serbia and Montenegro declared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992 and, under Slobodan Milosevic, undertook military interventions to achieve the integration of ethnic Serbs into 'Greater Serbia'. The policy was ultimately unsuccessful and prompted a co-ordinated military response from the United Nations and the international community, primarily in BiH, which eventually led to the Dayton Agreement of 1995. This agreement determined the external borders and constitutional structure, which BiH operates under today. In 2006 Montenegro declared independence from Serbia, and Kosovo declared independence in early 2008.

Country information

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Travel Advice

Travel advice: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Useful Links

• Bosnian Institute
• Bosnia & Herzegovina: British Embassy Sarajevo
• British Council website
• Department for International Development (DFID) 
• Peace Implementation Council (PIC)
• UK Trade & Investment Country Profile: Bosnia and Herzegovina

• BiH Government:

  BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Foreign Affairs Committee Report into the Western Balkans 2005
• Government Response to the Foreign Affairs Committee Report into the Western Balkans 2005
• Office of the High Representative
• NATO

Contacts

Copyright 2009 Foreign & Commonwealth Office