Komšić: As in 1991 and 1992, BiH seeks answers to the same questions, but this time there is no JNA

(Patria) - Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić addressed a gathering on the topic 'Independence Day: Challenges and Responses', organized on the occasion of marking Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo.

The core of the speech was the claim that Bosnia and Herzegovina revolves around identical concepts that contributed to the horrific suffering and war crimes of the 1990s, as well as a series of questions that only citizens will have to answer in order to crystallize the further path and development of the state, N1 reports.

“It seems to me that, despite all the transitional difficulties after the war, after so much destruction and suffering of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH revolves around the same things, the same concepts that prevailed in 1991 and 1992, and which contributed to the killing and persecution of citizens, predominantly Bosniaks.

Just as then, so today – the story is about what Bosnia and Herzegovina is and what it should be. Will it be exclusively a state of constituent peoples or does it deserve to be a state like other modern states – a state of liberal democracy in which the individual, i.e., the citizen, will be the center of the constitutional universe. This is the point where we diverge in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Komšić emphasized.

In this regard, he also commented on the role of the international community.

“We must not be ungrateful and fail to acknowledge the merit, especially of the United States of America. However, we have the right to be critical of their view of Bosnia and Herzegovina and their current approach,” he added.

He reiterated that the story about a civic state does not mean denying anyone's ethnic identity – and that both past and current 'divergence' arises on this issue.

“As in 1991 and 1992, BiH seeks answers to the same questions. This time there is no JNA, no force that threatens, but there are interests of neighbors, as well as European countries and the US, regarding the status of BiH now and in the future. It is up to us to decide what we will do. Those of us who are involved in politics will always listen to the impulse coming from the people,” he said.

When it comes to the most current topics – among them, the continuation of BiH's EU path deserves special focus recently. Komšić is of the opinion that alignment with the EU cannot be achieved with the current social paradigm and constitutional arrangement.

“We will constantly spin around ourselves and ask Europe and the world to understand us. Currently, even those from the international community are not helping us. Europeans very often shy away from the essence of the problems they have with us when it comes to negotiations, and Americans most often protect their child – the Dayton Peace Agreement based on collective rights. We must answer what we want. If we do not make a step forward regarding the paradigm, it will not be good; we will remain in a state of frozen conflict,” he said.

Among the series of questions that citizens, as he said, must answer are: “Are we ready to make a step beyond ZAVNOBiH? Are we ready to admit that we are, by nationality, Bosnians and Herzegovinians? Are we ready to build a nation?”