Anti-government protests (2014)

Tuzla Government building burned on 7th of February.

Burning cars near the Presidency building on 7th of February.

On 4 February 2014, the anti-government protests dubbed the Bosnian Spring, name taken from the Arab Spring, began in the northern town of Tuzla. Workers from several factories which were privatised and which have now gone bankrupt united to demand action over jobs, unpaid salaries and pensions. Soon protests spread to the rest of the country with violent clashes reported in close to 20 towns, biggest of which were in Sarajevo, Zenica, Mostar, Bihać, Brčko and Tuzla. The Bosnian news media reported that hundreds had been injured during the protests, including dozens of police officers, with bursts of violence in Sarajevo, in the northern city of Tuzla, in Mostar in the south, and in Zenica in central Bosnia. Hundreds of people also gathered in support of anti-government protests in the town of Banja Luka.

The protests mark the largest outbreak of public anger over high unemployment and two decades of political inertia in the country since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995.