State deputies for NAP: Let's consolidate the pro-state bloc and overcome blockades with strategic unity on key issues

Interview by: Delvin Kovač

Bosnia and Herzegovina has survived empires, monarchies, and various political alliances throughout history, and it will overcome this crisis too. Its strength lies in its continuity and the people who feel it as their only homeland.

The state can be weakened from within, but it cannot be erased by decree, blockades, or rhetoric. There are far more who love it than those who would tear it down, stated deputies in the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of BiH in an interview for the Patria News Agency (NAP) on the occasion of March 1st, BiH Independence Day.

Čaušević: We have no other country

Midhat Čaušević (SDA) emphasizes that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign and independent state and will remain so as long as its institutions function and fulfill their constitutional obligations. Sovereignty is defended by the work of institutions, not by statements, he adds.

- The role of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) should be an exception, not a rule; intervention is justified only in cases of serious political blockades and when the vital interests of the state are threatened. Any suspension of the Constitution or intervention that encroaches on the democratic will of the citizens represents a serious blow to sovereignty, and such practice must not be repeated - Čaušević is clear.

The answer to attempts to dismantle the state, our interlocutor continues, can only be a pro-Bosnian, state-building political unity. Without a strong and coordinated bloc that clearly defends institutions and territorial integrity, Čaušević stresses, it is difficult to counter retrograde policies.

- We are witnessing coordinated actions by SNSD, while HDZ BiH protects such policies, thus becoming its accomplice. At the same time, the parties in power in Sarajevo are showing political weakness and spending more energy on preserving power than on preserving the state. In such an environment, there is no adequate and decisive response, and the state suffers because of it - Čaušević points out.

He notes that the Dayton constitutional framework has made the decision-making process extremely complex – entity and ethnic majorities are often used as a mechanism for blockade, rather than as an instrument for protecting balance.

- There are clear political agendas coming from outside Bosnia and Herzegovina that aim to prevent any strengthening of state institutions. When such agendas have constitutional mechanisms at their disposal, the result is institutional paralysis.

This problem is not new, but it is more pronounced today than ever before. An additional challenge is the political weakness of the current government, which lacks the strength and capacity to counter it - states Čaušević.

He is convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina will survive this crisis as well, considering that it has survived empires, monarchies, and various political alliances throughout history. Its strength lies in its continuity and in the people who feel it as their only homeland.

- March 1st should be a reminder that independence was won by the will of the citizens and that it is our obligation to protect that will. We have no other country. Without Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no political, historical, or identity survival for us.

The message to the citizens is clear: let's protect the state by strengthening its institutions. And to those who question it: history has shown many times that Bosnia and Herzegovina lasts longer than their retrograde policies and evil intentions - Čaušević concluded in his interview with NAP.


Midhat Čaušević

Mehmedović: I congratulate even those who work against BiH

Šemsudin Mehmedović (Naprijed BiH) also emphasized the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is an independent and internationally recognized state.

- Through the Dayton Peace Agreement, we transferred part of our sovereignty to the institutions of the international community, for the sake of peace after the aggression and genocide against Bosniaks at that time. The Dayton institutions became part of the Constitution and state structures, and part of the sovereignty was transferred to the High Representative for the possibility of unblocking.

And these are the current circumstances in which there is a limited and imperfect, but firm framework for the development of the state and its progress towards the EU and NATO. However, if the dismantling of Dayton continues and if one side, as is being said, withdraws from the Peace Agreement, BiH has a "plan A" - says Mehmedović.

He emphasizes that Bosnia and Herzegovina was a sovereign, independent, and internationally recognized state even before Dayton, and it will be after it.

- The only way to defend the state from external and internal attacks is to strengthen it in every sense - political, personnel, economic, defense, intelligence, scientific, cultural, sports.

It is necessary to form a platform, and then a government that will stop the abuse and destruction of institutions from within, through inaction and corruption. It is necessary to prevent SNSD and HDZ from gaining power that they will use against the state.

For this, we must have political leaders whom Dodik and Čović cannot blackmail or buy, and a political bloc that is aware that we depend on our own strength and weakness, and that the policies of Belgrade and Zagreb and their satellites will be constant - notes Mehmedović.

In the given circumstances, our interlocutor continues, it is worth fighting for Bosnia and Herzegovina: "We were in a more difficult situation during the aggression, and today we are on the threshold of the EU and NATO. Progress is possible, but it is not possible if corruption, crime, and basic incompetence prevail."

- I congratulate all patriots on this great, biggest holiday of this generation. Then, 34 years ago, we all together and with true leadership bravely chose our path. And today we need the same values. Even then, there were different visions of organization and politics, but we all voted for our future and were ready to defend it with our lives.

These are the achievements of March 1st, of this generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians who have gone a step further than any previous generation in a changed world where we had and still have strong enemies. This is the day of our national and human pride. It is our revolution.

We all enjoy the fruits of an independent BiH, including those who work against it. I congratulate them too, because they receive rights, salaries, and carry its passport from that state. I believe that new generations of all peoples and citizens will appreciate the importance of this date more and more each year - Mehmedović told us at the end.


Šemsudin Mehmedović

Špago: BiH will continue to live

Šerif Špago (SDA) reminds that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a referendum 34 years ago, opted by a large majority for a sovereign and independent state of equal citizens and peoples. This was followed by international recognition of the sovereign and independent RBiH by a large number of countries, and RBiH soon became a member of the United Nations.

- A brutal aggression followed against our homeland, supported by an arms embargo. The heroic resistance and defense of the members of the Army of RBiH and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RBiH made it possible to preserve the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and sign the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, thereby confirming the sovereignty and independence of our state.

Of course, all of us who love Bosnia and Herzegovina would like state institutions to react more strongly and decisively to all those forces that, with the support of our neighboring countries, especially Serbia, question all these achievements, both of the referendum and the struggle of BiH patriots.

Some will say that BiH is formally sovereign, due to the difficulties of state institutions in independently making and implementing decisions. I disagree with that, because one must consider what has been done in these 30 post-war years, from the formation of more than 70 state institutions with all their competencies to the adoption of numerous laws and other regulations that enable BiH to function as a sovereign and independent state with democratically elected bodies.

Another problem is that representatives of certain political options, primarily SNSD and its satellites, have in recent years tried to exploit the changed international circumstances to achieve their war goals, and the competent judicial bodies are not reacting to these anti-constitutional activities - says Špago.

He emphasizes that the OHR should be far more decisive and take measures when domestic politicians without any basis block or prevent decision-making on the institutional strengthening of BiH, especially when their actions or decisions attack the constitutional order and the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Špago also points out that the political strategies of SNSD and HDZ BiH have for years relied on blockades, conditionality, and the concept of territorial exclusivity. Unfortunately, he adds, these political options, especially SNSD, abuse the decision-making system defined by the BiH Constitution, thereby causing enormous damage to the citizens who give them their trust.

- The fragmentation of the pro-Bosnian political spectrum is a real problem and most helps anti-Bosnian forces. Without strategic unity on key issues, every blockade becomes insurmountable, and it is necessary to consolidate the pro-state bloc around a minimum of common goals (Euro-Atlantic integration, rule of law, economic reforms).

It is also necessary to stop the mutual exhaustion of parties that nominally advocate for a unified BiH, focus on the economy and citizens' standard of living – because when citizens have stability and prospects, radical policies lose their strength, and to work more on diplomatic activities to internationalize the problem of blockades - assesses Špago.

The Dayton Peace Agreement, the SDA deputy adds, stopped the war, but also defined entity voting, vital national interest, and other elements that require compromises and consensus in decision-making, which anti-state political forces have extensively used in recent years, preventing the implementation of BiH's obligations on the European and NATO accession path.

- My position is that we will regret for a long time all that the April package should have brought us. Of course, in such circumstances, it is difficult to expect quick and substantial solutions regarding changes to constitutional provisions in the way decisions are made in BiH institutions, but through persistent work and the gathering of political forces ready to work primarily on reforms that enable economic progress and security for BiH, much more can be done.

What the incompetent current government, led by the Trojka, HDZ, and SNSD, is doing to us this term would undermine even much stronger states institutionally. Step by step - but always forward is something that is currently possible - Špago is convinced.

Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he stresses, is a symbol of the political will of the citizens to live in a sovereign, independent, and internationally recognized state.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing March 1st in an atmosphere of political tensions, institutional blockades, and deep mistrust among politicians, but what is most important still exists – internationally recognized borders, territorial integrity, and the majority will of citizens for this country to survive.

To the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who love their homeland, I say that it is as strong as we are all collectively willing to defend democratic values and participate, each in our own way, in protecting and strengthening its institutions.

To the haters of BiH, the message is: BiH will continue to live as a sovereign and independent state of BiH within AVNOJ borders. History has shown that BiH has survived through centuries precisely because it was a space of meeting, not division.

The state can be weakened from within, but it cannot be erased by decree, blockade, or rhetoric. There are far more who love their homeland than those who work to undermine it - Špago concludes in his interview with NAP.


Šerif Špago