BRUSSELS Bosnians and Herzegovinians send a message of peace: Together, we are BiH!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Bosnians and Herzegovinians gathered at Robert Schuman Square in Brussels near the European Union institutions as part of the "Gathering for Peace" event. The gatherings began on January 9th in Geneva and Paris, and today they are being held in about 40 cities across Europe, BiH, and the USA, Canada.

Citizens of BiH origin living in other countries also arrived in Brussels today. Diaspora from Germany, France, and the rest of Belgium arrived.

Today's gathering in Brussels is also the central gathering, with the flag of BiH and banners reading "Together we are Bosnia" being displayed. It was also stated that BiH is a multicultural country.

Gatherings are also being held in Sweden and the United Kingdom in several cities.

On behalf of the BiH and World Platform for Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizens sent a letter to Joe Biden, President of the USA, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy, Jonas Gahr Store, Prime Minister of Norway, Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, Karl Nehammer, Prime Minister of Austria, Željko Komšić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, Christian Schmidt, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the letter, they stated that in October 2021, the ruling coalition in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska adopted a plan to establish, as they stated, "something they call an independent RS within Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina".

"That seven-page document contains concrete steps for the unilateral, illegal, and unconstitutional takeover of state competencies in fiscal, judicial, defense, security, and many other fields. This plan is publicly available and envisages, along with many other points, the use of force against any state institution that would try to defend the constitutional order in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The implementation of this plan will cause the collapse of the constitutional and institutional architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This will result in terrible political, economic, and security consequences. Along with several concrete steps already taken, the ruling coalition in RS has made it clear that it intends to implement its plan," they stated.

They also reminded that at a special session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska on December 10th last year, four conclusions on the transfer of competencies were adopted.

"By which the legislative body of RS has de facto and de jure decided to separate that entity from the state constitutional and legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the sectors of justice, defense, security, and indirect taxation. Furthermore, the National Assembly of RS has tasked and authorized the Government of RS to draft new entity laws on the Army of RS, the Intelligence Service of RS, the Indirect Taxation System of RS, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of RS, and over 130 other laws and necessary regulations in various sectors by which RS will abolish state laws and regulations and replace them with entity ones. Since neither the state Constitution nor the constitution of the RS entity, nor state or entity laws allow entity institutions to make legally valid decisions or laws on issues that have already been adopted and regulated by the state Constitution or laws, the aforementioned actions and decisions of the National Assembly of RS, made on December 10, 2021, represent an illegal usurpation of state authority and a criminal offense against the constitutional and legal order of the state," they emphasized.

They underlined that the country has been drawn into a political crisis that threatens peace and that a well-thought-out, robust, and coordinated response from the High Representative of the international community Christian Schmidt, the United Nations, the United States, Canada, the European Union, and its NATO allies is now needed.

"The absence of such a response so far has only served to encourage the ambitions of Milorad Dodik and his ruling coalition. The statements of officials from the authorities in Serbia, who have expressed support for the plan of the ruling coalition in RS, are particularly concerning. In addition, secessionists from RS enjoy the support of Russia, China, and even some EU member states, such as Hungary, whose open nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-Muslim sentiments are very pronounced. Instead of deterrence, some in the international community are only encouraging Milorad Dodik's aspirations for secession and his desire to destroy Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state over time. However, there are very serious reasons why Bosnia and Herzegovina should not only be preserved as a sovereign state but also further strengthened," they believe.

Finally, they sent four requests to international representatives, which included, among other things, a request for a coordinated response primarily aimed at deterring local destabilizing forces and their foreign mentors.

Satko Mujagić, one of the protest organizers, recalled that he was a prisoner 30 years ago.

"If it weren't for my father and mother, I wouldn't be able to walk, but also for a Serb who brought money to get me released. And then I was forced to say on Serbian television that it wasn't a camp. I said then that if I survived, I would fight for the truth. I have been telling that truth for a long time. Today, we need something more than the truth; we must understand that the same things, the same logic and politics that formed the Serbian Republic on January 9th, that same ideology is still in force, they are announcing new wars. BiH survived the Vatican, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, it survived Austria, Serbia in 1918 entered with an army, Serbia occupied Vojvodina from Hungary that year. In 1939, the Cvetković-Maček plan was formed to divide BiH. Battles against fascists were fought on the territory of BiH. Our country has existed much longer than the EU countries. If Bosniaks can live in Sandžak, Hungarians in Vojvodina, Albanians in Macedonia, why can't Bosnian Serbs live in BiH," Mujagić said.