Bosnia & Herzegovina saw the risk of internal conflict grow in 2016, while relations with its neighbours also worsened, according to the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 countries.

Along with Macedonia and Montenegro, Bosnia is one of the countries in Southeast Europe where the level of peacefulness fell the most last year, according to the latest edition of peace research initiative Vision of Humanity's Global Peace Index (GPI) of 163 countries. Rising nationalistic rhetoric among politicians has provoked political crises in all three countries, seriously raising tensions.

“Much of Southeast Europe saw its score worsen this year. An increase in nationalist rhetoric led to a deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries for Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, while Montenegro (67th) saw a strong increase in political instability following a tumultuous election in October 2016 that involved an alleged attempted coup,” the GPI edition reads.

Bosnia plummeted 21 places on the index to 84th place. The country also was among the worst performers in Europe, ranking 34th out of 36 countries.

Tensions in the country have been rising constantly amid efforts by political leaders to gain more support from each of the three constituent peoples – the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), the Croats and the Serbs. This is only expected to increase in the coming year as the 2018 elections approach. 

“Bosnia and Herzegovina also had a large deterioration on this domain (ongoing conflict) owing to a deterioration in both the level of internal conflict, and its relations with neighbouring countries. The fall in peacefulness in Bosnia and Herzegovina was echoed in the region more generally, with both Serbia and Croatia also experiencing falls in peacefulness,” the GPI issue noted.

The study showed Macedonia to be the least peaceful state in the region. The country was racked by a long political crisis after the centre-left Social Democrats released a series of illegally recorded conversations that revealed high-level crime among officials from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE. However, following the appointment of a new government led by the Social Democrats, there are hopes the long-standing political crisis has finally come to an end. 

Montenegro, like Macedonia, dropped seven places on the global ranking. An alleged coup plot aimed at seizing power after the October 16 general election last year provoked significant tensions. Investigations have revealed that some of the leaders of the main opposition party – the pro-Russian Democratic Front (DF) — were among the organisers. The sharp increase of tensions between Montenegro and Russia, which has strongly opposed Montenegro’s Nato membership, also affected the Adriatic country’s political stability.

But the report was not all bad news for the SEE region. Kosovo improved significantly in terms of peacefulness, advancing 10 places to 76th position in the global ranking even though it remained among the worst ranked countries in Europe. 

Slovenia remained among the most peaceful countries in the world, ranking seventh in the latest edition of the report after advancing three places.

Iceland was the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008.

GPI ranking of SEE countries
Country	Global ranking	Score	Change
Albania	57	1.908	1
Bosnia & Herzegovina	84	2.035	-21
Bulgaria	28	1.631	0
Croatia	31	1.665	0
Kosovo	76	2.007	10
Macedonia	102	2.133	-7
Moldova	62	1.938	2
Montenegro	67	1.95	-7
Romania	25	1.6	5
Serbia	56	1.888	-3
Slovenia	7	1.364	3
Source: GPI