Edited by: Vojka Smiljanić-Đikić English translation: Graham McMaster Irena Žlof Novica Petrović Erica Johnson Debeljak Sazana Capriqi Will Firth Ljubica Arsovska Elizabeta Bakovska Language Editors: Gwen Jones Caryn Voskuil Peggy Reid Editorial board: Elizabeta Šeleva Ljubica Arsić Slobodan Šnajder Basri Capriqi Dragan Velikić Mitja Čander Marko Vešović Aleš Debeljak Radoslav Petković Ljiljana Dirjan Miško Šuvaković Daša Drndić Tihomir Brajović Zdravko Grebo Robert Alagjozovski Zoran Hamović Dževad Karahasan Editor-in-Chief: Enver Kazaz Velimir Visković Tvrtko Kulenović Julijana Matanović Executive Editor: Senadin Musabegović Vojka Smiljanić-Đikić Andrej Nikolaidis Boris A. Novak Editorial Assistant: Sibila Petlevski Aida El Hadari-Pediša NO 34 2011 CONTENTS FIRST PERSON SINGULAR Janez Potočnik Our Balkans – 9The Fragile Heart of Our Europe ....... CONTEMPORARy Short STORy – IntroDuction Jagna Pogačnik A significant switch15 to private life .............................. Enver Kazaz The universe of 21 intimacy .............................................. CONTEMPORARy Short STORY Ljubica Arsić Salome ................................................................................ 27 Olja Savičević – Ivančević Snow ................................................................................... 35 Faruk Šehić The water Republic39 ......................................................... Mihajlo Pantić This time, about 47 pain ..................................................... Eqrem Basha The fog ...............................................................................58 Zoran Ferić Requiem ............................................................................. 66 Mojca Kumerdej The letter ...........................................................................70 Dušan Čater Hell ...................................................................................... 83 Gabrijela Stojanoska Banana ................................................................................ 95 Andrej Nikolaidis Till Kingdom come .......................................................100 Lamija Begagić Daily Dialogues ..............................................................111 ou’ve Y got 113 no clue, my Ivana ...................................... Goran Samardžić Deeper thoughts ............................................................116 Dimitrie Duracovski At the bus station, M119irjana ......................................... DIALOGUE Boro Kontić and Aleksandar Hemon Literature is founded on the sovereignty of the individual.............................................................123 Daša Drndić and Mirko Kovač Stations of memory 148...................................................... Boris A Novak and Taras Kermauner On communism and nationalism, literature and politics, Slovenia and Yugoslavia, pain and God .....155 Ljubica Arsić and Jelena Lengold Suffering is the175 greatest taboo ................................... PORTRAIT OF A PAINTER Stipe Nobilo Luko Paljetak An Uninterrupted Dream of an Uninterrupted Summer ...................................187 Biographies of the Authors ............................................................................................201 SARAJEVSKE SVESKE Nº 34 | 5 FIRST PERSON SINGULAR Janez Potočnik Janez Potočnik Our Balkans – The Fragile Heart of Our Europe A few decades ago Europe was demolished and its people were desperate. It needed reconstruction, and it needed reconcilia- tion. The European Union brought lasting peace, stability, security and the promise of more prosperity and a better life. Back then the “raison d’être” for European coopera- tion and integration was more than obvious. That original reason is just as valid today, even if we now sometimes rather foolishly take those achievements for granted. The fact is that Europe has changed since then. It is a good place to live – peace- ful, secure and rich – and many are wonder- ing why we should continue strengthening our cooperation and integration. The rest of world has also changed, one could say dra- matically, especially in the last two decades. We are more interconnected and more interdependent. Developing countries, like China and India, are catching up fast; the world is becoming increasingly multi-polar. Many of the challenges we face, such as climate change, future energy supply, potential pandemics and other health issues, shortages of food and drinking water, security… are becoming more and more global. And competition is getting even fiercer. In a way one could say that the world in which we live is more fragile and precarious than ever. Two concepts will determine our common future life. The first is sustainability, not only environmental, but sustainability in its widest sense. We have learned from the current financial and economic crisis that economies and profits should also be sustainable. The second concept is global governance. This has become obviously necessary as the world has turned into a mutually interdependent global village and our individual and collective responsibilities have substantially increased. The World needs a responsible Europe, a Europe that is able to speak with one voice, a Europe which can take the leading role globally when needed, for example in the case of climate change. But it is not only the World that needs a stronger Eu- rope; we Europeans also need a stronger Europe, a Europe capable of dealing with the changed reality in which we live. SARAJEVSKE SVESKE Nº 34 | 9 While the original “raison d’être” for our cooperation is still there and valid, new global developments are clearly an additional reason for strengthening Eu- rope’s role, an additional “raison d’être” for our strengthened cooperation. ooo The Balkans are part of Europe, geographically, culturally, historically, economi- cally, in fact in every way you can imagine… The fact is that all Balkan countries would today be members of the European Union if the recent terrible war in the region had been avoided. But it was not. It happened, and it is a reminder to all of us of how frag- ile Europe, and especially this region, still is. The time horizon for the countries in the region has changed. Membership has been pushed back, for some more than others. Slovenia was wise enough, and lucky enough, to escape. An important message of hope and determination to continue with the enlargement policy was given to the region in a recent announcement of the target date for the accession of Croatia. The European Union’s behaviour in those critical times was far from appro- priate and desirable. Its reaction to the emerging conflict was not expressed with the clear voice and determination that was needed. We should not forget that. For this reason we have a kind of moral duty and obligation to help the region and to correct some of those unfortunate facts. All the so-called Western Balkan countries clearly have a European Union perspective. This perspective is as important for them individually as it is also for their region and the whole of Europe. It is about their peace, their stability and their prosperity, but it is also about European peace, stability and prosperity. Even if Europe’s many other problems (like the current fight against the financial and economic crises) are often more visible, many of us are highly aware that enlarge- ment was - and still is – the most successful European policy. The countries in the Balkan region should therefore “keep alive” a belief in the European Union and in Europe, while at the same time the European Union should “keep alive” the en- largement policy and process, including the European perspective of all Western Balkan countries (and Turkey, of course). What I learned as Head of Slovenia’s Ne- gotiation Team for its accession to the European Union is that the European Union keeps its promises, and that there are many friends in European institutions ready to help. Don’t forget, there are even more of us here today. There is no doubt that the Balkan people have strong potential. Just think of their unforgettable movies, literature and music, or scientific genius like that of Nikola Tesla. Who could forget the imagination and the unpredictable creativity of many of their athletes? All these people bring their unlimited talents to various areas of our lives. I am currently responsible in the European Commission for the Environment and in my previous mandate I was responsible for Science and Research. Both ar- eas are vital for any country’s future, prosperity and quality of life. Cooperation is like blood for our organs. In research we are trying to build a strong European Research Area, enabling an open market place for talents and ideas to circu- 10 | SARAJEVSKE SVESKE Nº 34 late. Of course all Member States are part of that approach, but we are trying to enlarge it beyond the Union borders by associating countries with the European Framework and Research Area. Associated members have practically the same rights and obliga- tions as all Member States. In a way, they are already members of the Union in the area of science and research. When I joined the European Commission none of the so- called Western Balkan countries was associated, and by the end of my mandate all of them were. The philosophy behind that approach is simple. It is based on the logic of integrating the region as soon as possible, and as much as possible, into the European Union. It is based on the logic of help through the strengthening of domestic capacities! ooo The project of Sarajevo