US Report on Terrorism in BiH: Grabar-Kitarović Contradicts State Department

The State Department's report on terrorism for the past year, 2016, also mentioned Bosnia and Herzegovina. The document states that "BiH remained a cooperative partner and continued to make progress and increase its capacity to combat terrorism. Law enforcement agencies in BiH largely tracked foreign terrorist suspects, however, the Counterterrorism Task Force led by the State Prosecutor's Office – responsible for improving coordination among BiH’s many security and police agencies – continued to underperform," the State Department report reads.

"A number of BiH citizens traveled to Syria and Iraq to support ISIL and other terrorist groups, but through legal and societal efforts to prevent violent extremism, this number decreased compared to previous years. BiH officials and media estimated that approximately 300 BiH citizens traveled to destinations in Iraq and Syria since 2013, of whom approximately 50 have returned. BiH Government officials reported that in 2016, there was no visible flow of foreign terrorist fighters," the report states.

Thus, Bosnia and Herzegovina was, however, subjected to slander precisely during this period covered by the State Department, and that from Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Last year, she spoke of the constantly increasing danger of terrorism in BiH.

In early December 2016, in Dubrovnik, she stated that the fact that thousands of fighters were returning to BiH from the so-called Islamic State must be faced, and the "influence of some other countries on BiH" cannot be ignored either. How Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović arrived at numbers ranging from 300 to several thousand through intelligence or multiplication is a separate issue.

The report states: "BiH’s main religious communities (Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, and Orthodox) continued to work together through the Interreligious Council to promote tolerance and confront acts of disrespect or violent extremism directed at any of the communities."

In November 2016, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović thought differently. In an interview for Defense News magazine, she stated that the instability of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the biggest security threat to Croatia. When asked by a journalist what the biggest security threat to Croatia in its immediate neighborhood is, the president replied that it is "the instability of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which as a country is not yet fully politically emancipated."

A scientific conference titled "Croats in BiH: Bearers of European Values" was held in Neum. The Croatian president also spoke there about alleged extremism in BiH. "The number of extremist communities is growing in Bosnia and Herzegovina..." Grabar-Kitarović said. "We demand that the International Community act on the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and internal reform processes."

The reporting by Zagreb's Večernji list in December 2016 that BiH was becoming a center of Wahhabism stirred up public opinion in BiH, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) claimed that they did not provide such a qualification in their report. Of course, Kolinda Grabar did not pay attention to these warnings.

The State Department report further states: "Among public figures, the mufti and leader of the Islamic Community in BiH, Reis Husein ef. Kavazović, continued to speak out against the 'misinterpretation of Islam' that leads to extremist violence. The Islamic Community made significant progress against the spread of potentially extremist interpretations of Islam. In February 2016, Reis Kavazović officially called on members of self-governing communities (džemat) to join the Islamic Community or face legal consequences. According to officials, approximately 90 percent of known džemats have since recognized the authority of the Islamic Community, which now actively monitors the communities and appoints imams."

Unlike this American report, Grabar-Kitarović at that time attacked the Islamic Community of BiH. At the same time, she claimed that "the small Islamic Community of Croatia is successfully and tenaciously fighting against radicalism and is at the forefront of the region." Thus, something that is an integral part of the Islamic Community of BiH, she placed at the forefront of that community and declared it a fighter against radicalism.

Finally, she analyzes rural life in Bosnia and Herzegovina: "The Islam we knew in BiH is changing, becoming more radical, especially in rural areas, the way of life is changing, even people's appearance in terms of clothing and behavior, and a much more rigid interpretation of Islamic values," said the Croatian president.

What should she say today after the American report and all that she has said, which today can be called slander against this country?