'Bosnia is Ours – Bosnian' is a Response to Separatism and Attacks on BiH, It Is Time for All Citizens to Decide on Its Future

(Patria) - The Convention 'Bosnia is Ours – Bosnian' will be held at the Holiday Hotel in Sarajevo on Thursday, July 4 at 7 PM, with several speakers from political life and academia.

As stated by the President of Krug 99, Adil Kulenović, who is organizing the convention together with the Association Čuvari Bosne, the task of the academic community is to observe things in the direction of building a vision of a modern European state of BiH.
Kulenović said that the Convention is not a response to the All-Serbian Assembly, but rather takes into account all the processes that have been initiated in recent years regarding BiH.

„This is a response and a way to achieve state-building unity in BiH.“

Academician Esad Duraković said that it is evident that BiH as a state is in a critical situation, on the verge of dissolution, facing a so-called peaceful separation, which is rhetoric we must not accept.

„In my view, the Convention was not convened because of the assembly or the declaration adopted last night, but because BiH has been suffering since 1992, being tormented, with attempts to lead us into complete apathy. This is a response, a fight, or a defense of BiH's statehood at a critical historical moment. I fear that a large part of our public is not aware of how important this moment is. I appeal to the academic community and the citizens of BiH to wake up fully, because although the international community and the High Representative are responsible for the crisis in BiH, overcoming the crisis largely depends on us. We must fight for the state, we must nurture it. We must warn about the passivity of the international community, that the High Representative is passive, and when he takes some action, it is to the detriment of BiH. This means he is de facto acting in cooperation with those who are breaking up BiH. These are harsh words, but I stand by them,“ says Academician Duraković.

He emphasizes that the relationship between politics and the judiciary must be unmasked and thwarted.

„The key criterion for preserving BiH is building a civil society and overcoming ethnic divisions. The integrative factor is Bosnianness. Bosniaks are an ethnicity, while Bosnians are all citizens of the state of BiH. We are the only state that does not have the right to a nation. This is the goal of aggressive neighboring policies—to strip us of our statehood so they can more easily divide us. I am a Bosniak, a Bosnian, and in terms of religious affiliation, I am a Muslim. The only solution is building a civil society,“ he concluded.

Professor Senadin Lavić said that we are in an era of negation of Bosnia.

„We must stop the negation of the state of BiH and work on building a Bosnian thought tied to the future of BiH. This is our attempt to provide several answers for the country's future development. Emphasis should be placed on implementing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; they must be implemented. We live in an ethnocratic society. We are witnessing arbitrary interpretations of the BiH Constitution, and this arbitrariness leads to agony in society. My emphasis is that the sentence 'Bosnia is Ours – Bosnian' signifies our determination that the future of BiH should be decided by its citizens, not by Serbia and Croatia. We, the citizens of BiH, want to decide the fate of BiH, not some people from neighboring countries and the international community,“ said Lavić.

Professor Enver Halilović said that this slogan does not have a meaning that would imply some Bosniak counterbalance.
„BiH belongs equally to all ethnic groups and communities, a country of all its citizens regardless of religion, nation, or language. The way out of this crisis, which is centuries-old and historically imposed, is that today we are in a situation to defend at least minimal dignity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of BiH.“

Jahja Muhasilović, on behalf of Čuvari Bosne, said that one of the reasons for the gathering is to provide a response to separatist policies.

„That is not the only reason. We are not a reaction to two separatist currents, but rather to show the pro-Bosnian side's proactivity in preserving its idea.

We see the Serbian factor regrouping to the detriment of BiH. Serbian politics has decided to destroy the Dayton Peace Agreement. Now the question arises whether we are returning to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are many destructive forces in BiH, and the two basic concepts are the state concept, while the force trying to destroy it is the force of separatism embodied in the Greater Serbian and Greater Croatian ideas.

The moment we clearly define the forces of separatism, I believe we will approach them much more easily.
Patriotic forces will not tire in its defense, and it is only a matter of time before the forces of separatism are defeated, as they were defeated in the past.

It is high time that we, as an academic circle, provide a proactive response against policies that are against BiH,“ concluded Muhasilović.