Cerić: Ivanić, I don't know what got into you, but citizens of BiH expect an apology!

Mustafa Cerić, President of the World Bosniak Congress, sent an open letter to Mladen Ivanić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reacting to his statements regarding March 1st, Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are publishing the letter in its entirety:

- After your statement that you cannot accept the referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina as something normal, I cannot address you as "respected" either, because you have declared all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who participated in the referendum on that March 1st as abnormal. That is not fair of you, neither as a person nor as the Chairman of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is politically irresponsible and morally unworthy.

Let me remind you, Ivanić! At the referendum for the independence of the state, which you are currently chairing, 64.31% of citizens of all nationalities participated, of whom 99.44% voted for independence, recognized by the whole world as free and normal people.

I cannot address you as "mister" either, because a true gentleman in the highest office of the internationally recognized thousand-year-old state of Bosnia and Herzegovina would never allow himself to say that for him there is no "so-called" statehood day of his country - Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A true gentleman would at least remain silent, refrain from insulting his fellow citizens who did not deserve to be subjected to that kind of emotional pain - first, that they are not normal, and second, that they do not exist, that they are gone.

Thank God, Ivanić, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are completely normal, and March 1st, 1992, certainly existed. We have not all disappeared, Ivanić. There are citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina for whom March 1st, Independence Day, is important, and therefore you should respect it as well, as a state and political value of normal people and citizens of this country.

I thought you, Ivanić, were an educated and cultured politician, with whom I don't have to agree, but whom I must respect as a conscientious and responsible person and official. I don't know what has happened to you since you came to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but your thoughts and statements regarding this year's March 1st, Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are inappropriate and unacceptable.

I don't know what got into you, Ivanić, but when you come to your senses, the normal citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina expect you to apologize and promise that this kind of slip of the tongue will never happen again.

While awaiting your apology, I wish you good health, with the hope that we will welcome future Statehood Days of Bosnia and Herzegovina in good spirits, in the company of free and normal citizens and our sincere friends around the world.

The same applies to all those who are still calculating with that date. They must understand that the calculation is over and that instead of looking back, we must all look forward, because God created eyes to look forward, not backward."