Duraković: The smear campaign by Croatian officials aims to create conditions for secessionism

It is not the first time that the President of Croatia imputes some kind of Islamic radicalism to us, some possibility that we could be a base for ISIL and such things. I live in BiH and I know that is not true. These are insinuations that, together with Kurtz and Zeman, have two goals. The first is to create an atmosphere of anti-Bosniak sentiment and anti-Bosnian sentiment, in order to then have an argument for secessionism, both Croatian and Serbian. To say, first of all, that radicalism is rampant in BiH, that Croats cannot live in such a BiH, they must separate, and the same applies to the RS.

Therefore, these are slanders because Croatian representatives in international institutions, in the EU parliament, attribute this extremism to us. This is untrue, but it is politically very effective, and also threatening, said academician Esad Duraković in an interview for TV1, reports the Patria News Agency.

Before we talk about regional relations, let's discuss one of your texts that you wrote for our portal Vijesti.ba, in which you wrote about royal and ordinary pilgrims. There have been numerous reactions to this text?

DURAKOVIĆ: I am aware of two reactions. One is a reaction from former Reis Mustafa Cerić, and the second reaction is in the magazine Stav by a certain Hamza Ridžal. I did not react for two reasons. First, Mr. Cerić does not exist in academia. I am a scientist, he is not in academia. He has recently been involved in politics in a carnival-like manner, so the public no longer takes him seriously. Therefore, he is not a relevant interlocutor. Ridžal Hamza is a very young man who would probably like me to address him publicly and engage in a polemic with him, but I also do not consider him competent. There is only one thing I would like to emphasize. Both of them falsify my text and impute to me that I claim, which is not true, that no one can pay for Hajj for anyone else, that a son cannot pay for his father, which is not true. The essence of my text is that the criteria for selecting royal pilgrims are completely wrong because prime ministers, officers, professors, directors, that is, all those categories who can afford it with their own means, go there and use that privilege. In my conviction, Hajj for such people is not valid, and I am against it.

We will continue with regional topics. Vučić is in Sarajevo. Today we had the opportunity to hear friendly messages. How friendly are they really?

DURAKOVIĆ: When it comes to friendly messages, I would always put them in quotation marks because nothing fundamentally new is happening with Vučić. I want to say that I am not someone who is against communication. Diplomacy must do its job, new paths of cooperation must be opened, however, one should always judge based on their actions, not words. Vučić states that BiH has a friend in Serbia and that he is friendly towards BiH and towards Bosniaks, but at the same time, this eloquent gentleman who knows how to speak beautifully, does everything to block the resolution on genocide in the UN Security Council. That was not long ago, and we are already forgetting. Secondly, what he does is, as the president of one country, he visits another country and, as I understand it, coordinates an education system in the RS with Serbia, and what is that? That is an attack on the sovereignty of another country. In doing so, one must take into account the following: Vučić is a Chetnik duke, with all due respect to his position as president, which I respect, but he has never renounced it. He is a man who now comes from a country that committed aggression against BiH, and when he talks about language and the education system, one must consider that the same RS denies the Bosnian language. Therefore, he is a top manipulator who says one thing and does another. He talks in one direction, and his actions speak against that talk.

Should the BiH authorities warn Vučić about the violation of Bosniak rights in the RS?

DURAKOVIĆ: I have already said that cooperation is necessary, but we from here very often lack measure in it, so for example, from the highest positions in BiH, Vučić is complimented and told how he is a man who sends good messages, how he is a man of good intentions, and those messages are broadcast without any provocation, and they are superfluous, because if you compliment a man who does all this, you are encouraging him to continue with his duplicitous policy towards BiH, and secondly, you are in a way humiliating your own people. Therefore, cooperation is necessary, but not compliments.

How do you view the statements of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović about ten thousand Salafists in BiH, the radicalization of Bosniaks.

DURAKOVIĆ: Unfortunately, we have had a kind of campaign recently, I would even say hysteria from Croatia, a series of statements and gaffes from Plenković and Kitarović that are at the expense of BiH and Bosniaks primarily. It is not the first time that she imputes some kind of Islamic radicalism to us, some possibility that we could be a base for ISIL and such things. I live in BiH and I know that is not true. These are insinuations that, together with Kurtz and Zeman, have two goals. The first is to create an atmosphere of anti-Bosniak sentiment and anti-Bosnian sentiment, in order to then have an argument for secessionism, both Croatian and Serbian. To say, first of all, that radicalism is rampant in BiH, that Croats cannot live in such a BiH, they must separate, and the same applies to the RS. Therefore, these are slanders because Croatian representatives in international institutions, in the EU parliament, attribute this extremism to us. This is untrue, but it is politically very effective, and also threatening.

Are the efforts regarding the amendment of the Election Law and the upcoming verdict for the "Balkan Six" the reason for this?

DURAKOVIĆ: Croatian media present the amendments to the Election Law as the issue of all issues, but in reality, it is another name for separatism and further segregation, in which even Croats in BiH will not be equal, because a Croatian vote in Sarajevo will not be worth as much as some vote down in some Grude. A campaign and systematic pressure on BiH are being carried out, and I am concerned that there is no adequate response from the BiH side.

Does Croatia show its inability to impose solutions in BiH that are in its interest in this way?

DURAKOVIĆ: They are not giving up on it, and this is a continuation of a kind of aggression and the realization of war aims by other means. What they did not achieve in the war, they are now trying to realize, and all of this leads to some kind of secession. As in the case of Vučić, I must state that I regret that we do not have coordinated messages. Statements from such high positions are a serious matter.

Plenković visited BiH only in areas where Croats live, what kind of message does that send?

DURAKOVIĆ: That is a very ugly message that I noticed. Plenković, like Vučić, should visit, but it is probably normal in the world of diplomacy for the prime minister of a neighboring country to first visit and meet with someone who is his equal, in this case, Zvizdić, to meet him in Sarajevo, and then he can go to Žepče and so on. What he is doing by marking the so-called Croatian areas is a form of diplomatic aggression and arrogance, but I am surprised that there are no reactions from our side.

Dragan Čović also got involved in the whole matter with the story about the organized settlement of Arabs, how do you comment on that?

DURAKOVIĆ: I am surprised that Čović did not talk about this earlier. I have spoken about the issue of settling Arabs and buying land several times. Not just Arabs, I would speak the same way if any foreign citizens bought Bosnian land, because it is the most important resource. We have sold the most valuable thing we have to foreigners, the ground beneath our feet. This is not done, and it is very short-sighted. I am for tourism, let tourists come, but let them not buy our land. I would be equally resolute if it were any other nation.

In the context of messages about radicalization, you stated "as the times are, so is Zeman." What are the times like, and what is Zeman like?

DURAKOVIĆ: When Zeman talks about BiH being a potential base for ISIL, because he is not just Zeman, he is also the president of a country. At the same time, the Austrian head of diplomacy attributes Islamic radicalism to us, and so does the Croatian president. It is obvious that an institutional context is being created within Europe to demonize Bosniaks, to present them as a disruptive factor. What is worrying is the synchronization of these statements. What I fear, and God forbid I am wrong, is that an incident, two, or three, some terrorist act or something similar from the so-called "Islamist" positions will be staged, because people can be paid for that, and then those who accuse us of radicalism will have an argument - they will say, see, this is what it's about, it's really something we cannot reconcile with, and we will create "Herceg Bosna." I fear these staged incidents because it is indicative that such significant statements are coming simultaneously from such instances, while the EU and its institutions remain silent about it.

Can one defend against this, and what should the response be?

DURAKOVIĆ: Perhaps it is pretentious for me, as a Bosniak, to talk about this, but I state with full responsibility that Bosniaks are a cosmopolitan people, and we should foster this cosmopolitanism and internationalism. They must bear in mind that Bosniaks who have survived genocide have never taken revenge for it. We are people who are open to cooperation. Europe, which is bureaucratized and dehumanized, could recognize cosmopolitanism in Bosniaks and affirm it, because at the same time, fascism is strengthening in EU countries, and serious Islamization in Croatia and some other countries. Therefore, let's stay on the course of tolerance, coexistence, and forbearance, that is the only true answer.