Army of RBiH Veterans: They hide their hatred for lilies behind platitudes about a quasi-civil society!

(Patria) - The Coordination of Basic Veterans' Organizations of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly condemns the attempt to demonize and criminalize patriotism, which individuals have expressed in the public space in recent days.

"Particularly disgusting is the insult by Professor Franjo Šarčević of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics at the University of Sarajevo, who called a child's sense of beauty and attachment to a symbol that generations before him carried on the path of survival, 'a symbol of a hopelessly sick society'.

Šarčević knows well that our memory and self-awareness are the greatest barriers to the opponents of BiH and Bosniaks, which is why he is disturbed when he sees a lily on a boy's cap. The younger generations learned from their grandfathers and fathers what separatists, terrorists, and criminals did to this country and its people, and who, under what symbol, largely stopped them from doing so. That process of learning about the experiences of their ancestors has not been interrupted, as it may have been a few decades ago. The lily is a symbol of our existence in our homeland, a symbol of freedom and survival and our strength, but also a clear message to some new haters of this thousand-year-old country and its uniqueness," the statement reads.

They note that the veterans of the resistance may have seemed few and weak to some thirty years ago, but it turned out that this was the aggressor's delusion, which they paid for in many ways, including their own historical shame.

"We warn the opponents of lilies and our flags, those who, in their audacity, inhumanity, and apparent strength, insult our children and youth, that we will protect all of it, that we are determined, capable, and numerous for it. As many times before.

On the other hand, the opponents of lilies, individuals and certain organizations, are few and do not reflect the majority will of the people – on the contrary. At the same time, when others carry the symbols of two para-states, the usual interpreters of democracy do not speak out.

To those who are bothered by our lily, and who at least try to hide that hatred with empty and unfounded platitudes about a quasi-civil society, we say that they must learn to live in a country where the majority are those who love that symbol – or leave it," said the Coordination of Basic Veterans' Organizations of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.