BOSNIAKS OF SLOVENIA WROTE TO SCHMIDT: We have eight demands, deadline for response is March 14

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - We cannot watch calmly nor can we ignore everything that members of our families, who still live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially those living in the entity of Republika Srpska, are going through. In addition to you, esteemed High Representative, we are sending this letter to all institutions of the European Union and the leaders of European countries, states the letter from the Bosniak Cultural Association of Slovenia, which indirectly represents more than 100,000 Bosniaks living in Slovenia. 

"Your Excellency, High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, due to great concern over the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are writing you this open letter with clear demands that you take measures to protect Bosniak returnees in the territory of the entity of Republika Srpska," the letter states.

The explanation of the letter states:

- In the entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, over the last 25 years, there has been increasingly frequent psychological harassment of Bosniaks by the politics and leadership of that entity. We are witnessing constant threats of secession by that entity. The non-recognition of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other institutions of BiH as a state. The holding of gatherings intended exclusively for the Serbian population, where hate speech is present, the continuous celebration of the unconstitutional Day of Republika Srpska. The regular glorification of war criminals and the denial of the Srebrenica genocide in public, which goes unsanctioned. The insulting of genocide victims at sporting events, which goes unsanctioned.

Denial of the Bosnian language and the right of Bosniak children to learn the Bosnian language in schools according to the Bosnian curriculum, instead they must learn according to the Serbian curriculum, within which, in the subject of history, they learn that the evil their parents, grandfathers and grandmothers went through in the 1990s never happened, etc!

All this leads Bosniaks to a situation where they no longer see any way out, nor any real possibilities for reconciliation and life in that entity. 30 years ago, Bosniak men and women in the area controlled by the RS army were persecuted, killed, raped, imprisoned, harassed, tortured, humiliated, robbed... Today, the few Bosniak returnees who have returned to their rebuilt homes are constantly placed in a situation of humiliation, and an atmosphere of fear is created, threatening that the evil from the early 1990s could repeat itself!

Reports to the police and prosecutor's office do not result in the conviction of those who create this atmosphere of fear in various ways. This only shows that a continuation of the plan to persecute Bosniaks from that area by other means is underway. In the last year, while Putin's Russia is carrying out aggression against Ukraine, following a very similar aggression by Serbia against BiH in the 1990s, the leadership of the RS entity supports the Russian aggressors and opposes the imposition of sanctions on Russia, which is contrary to the stance of Europe and the West and most other democratic countries.

Nevertheless, one gets the impression that this pronounced pro-Russian stance of the RS authorities does not bother anyone in the European Union. Where does such tolerance come from? Because of all the above, on behalf of the Bosniak Cultural Association of Slovenia, we demand from you, as the High Representative of the international community in BiH, that you adopt:

1. Urgent sanctions against the President of the RS entity, Milorad Dodik, for public hate speech and continuous denial of the genocide committed in Srebrenica.

2. Urgent sanctions against the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina for not yet prosecuting genocide denier Dodik.

3. Urgent sanctions against the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, for hate speech at public gatherings where he behaves as if he is the mayor only of the Serbian people, and not of all residents of Banja Luka,

4. Urgent sanctions against the President of the DNS party, Nenad Nešić, for deliberate provocative gestures in front of the parliament, which insult all civilian victims in Sarajevo and other cities in BiH.

5. Urgent sanctions against all those responsible for organizing the celebration of the Day of Republika Srpska from the moment the Constitutional Court of BiH declared it unconstitutional. There, we demand sanctions against the organizers and other politicians who were part of the processions, both from BiH and other countries.

6. Urgent sanctions against the President of the HDZ party, Dragan Čović, who supports the policy of the RS leadership and thereby indirectly contributes to further worsening the lives of Bosniaks in the RS.

7. Urgent freezing of European Union financial resources to the RS entity, as well as IMF loans, until the attitude of that entity's leadership towards the non-Serb population is radically improved.

8. Stopping the harassment of Bosniaks in Prijedor because of the khutbah of ef. Amir Mahić. In the municipality of Prijedor, a public lynching is being carried out against ef. Amir Mahić because of a statement in a khutbah, for which he publicly apologized. However, police pressure is now being exerted not only on ef. Mahić, but also on all Bosniaks who were present in the mosque during that khutbah.

On this occasion, we want to warn you that your allowance and tolerance of the nationalist behavior of politicians from the RS is leading Bosnia and Herzegovina to the brink of new conflicts and bloodshed. The absence of your reaction means de facto support for the continuation of the humiliation and harassment of Bosniaks in the RS. For the good of all peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region, we demand that you and the EU react urgently. In case you do not have the courage to do so or consider that it is not your job, we demand that you resign and thus enable someone else to do what should be the role of the High Representative of the international community.

We expect your response to our demands and their fulfillment no later than March 14, 2023. Otherwise, we will call all exiled surviving Bosniaks across Europe to demonstrations, which we will carry out until our demands are met. We have been suffering and waiting for 30 years for a hand of reconciliation to be extended to us as the most victimized people in Europe after World War II. In return, we receive denial of genocide, all-encompassing belittlement and open threats. Our demand is not only for the good of Bosniaks but also for the good of all other citizens of BiH who want peace and a normal life - states the letter signed by Elvis Alukić, President of the Bosniak Cultural Association of Slovenia.