It's clear SFOR soldiers don't come back here often. One woman hurriedly approaches Welder and asks in Serbo-Croatian if anything is wrong. Welder assures her all is fine. He is just out for a walk, providing a presence, he says. Some of the houses are damaged by wartime shelling, but Zvornik was not hit as hard by the war as surrounding villages.
Welder stops to chat with two men roasting a pig on an open fire.
He says hello in the few words of Serbo-Croatian he knows, then uses his interpreter. Welder asks the men if they have voted and whether they think there will be trouble when the results are known. The captain says goodbye and pushes on through the winding streets. Some of the people offer warm hellos, others nod when Welder says good day. Still others avoid eye contact or make a sour face.