Komšić again on 'Bosniak nationalism': Who needs Bosnia and Herzegovina with only Croats who are members of HDZ?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Media in Bosnia and Herzegovina are competing this morning to be the first to publish an author's article by Ivo Komšić, that intellectual whose work can be divided and measured by the time before and after Christian Schmidt's arrival as High Representative for BiH.

Once a fierce critic and objective observer of the situation in BiH and a Croat who criticizes the criminal policy of Franjo Tuđman and everything that such actions destroyed, he now places victims in the context of what Bosniaks have never been and will never be – nationalists and radicals.

Komšić has allowed himself to side with those whose policy destroyed BiH, because it is evident that the Croatian wartime policy of Herceg-Bosna continued even after Tuđman.

Komšić has joined in slandering Bosniaks and dedicated half of his text to defending Schmidt, falsely stating that Schmidt created the conditions for forming government at both levels.

He does not mention in a single sentence that Schmidt suspended the Constitution, imposed the FBiH Government, skillfully pleasing HDZ and Dragan Čović. Komšić also states that Schmidt politically distanced HDZ BiH from Dodik and his policy and unequivocally directed them towards the EU, which is an absolute untruth, because Dodik and Čović have neither distanced themselves nor are willing to fulfill the EU's demands without their demands being met first (Electoral Law, BiH Constitutional Court) which have nothing to do with BiH's path to the EU!

In the text, Komšić consciously absolves Trojka and, just like Konaković and his team, mentions how in the anti-Western campaign led by Bosniak nationalists, the current government represented by Trojka is portrayed as treacherous, as Western mercenaries, as incapable of opposing Dodik.

He does not mention even once the stance of the US Embassy, which has clearly seen through the plans from Bakinci and clearly stated – this is not what is expected from BiH. And the agreement from Bakinci leads BiH to further ethnic division.

And so, the 'objective' Komšić only deals with 'Bosniak nationalism', without any allusion to Croatian nationalism or, for that matter, Čović's crime and nationalism.

Komšić has chosen the easiest way to make targets out of Bosniaks, who are realistically the biggest victims of aggression, but also of Dayton itself, by mentioning words that make the civilized world shudder.

And although, as an intellectual, he is obliged to explain what Bosniak radicalism is, Komšić does not do so, because it is clear even to a layman that the STATE is the only Bosniak, Bosnian radicalism, and nationalism. We witnessed something similar in Montenegro.

It is important for Komšić to spread a narrative that relies on the policy from Croatia (HAZU plans) in which reports about alleged radicalism and terrorism continue to be broadcast, which do not threaten BiH any more or less than all countries in the world. But Komšić does not give up, so it is worth considering why there was a sudden change in Ivo Komšić's thinking and public appearances before and after Schmidt.

Because, it is clear that everything is temporary, except for eternal interests and profitable projects.

Komšić knows that Bosniaks are a people whose leadership, in the midst of aggression, while defending their very survival, preserved and restored the religious buildings of others. Bosniaks are a people who have endured the worst horrors and crimes of war, the worst since World War II, without teaching their children to kill out of revenge when they get the chance.

And therefore, it is time to answer Komšić's question: who needs Bosnia and Herzegovina without Croats?

He accuses Bosniaks of portraying Croats as a whole as nationalists, even those Croatian and religious institutions and individuals who, throughout the aggression, persistently advocated for a unified and sovereign BiH.

And yet, Bosniaks are so nationalistic and want BiH without Croats that, as a people, they vote for Željko Komšić, who is a Croat, and whom, paradoxically, HDZ BiH and Croatia do not recognize, even though he was elected in accordance with the Constitution and laws.

Something is wrong with the claim that someone wants BiH without Croats, or does Ivo also believe that Željko Komšić is not a Croat, or does he align himself with the idea of Trojka and Čović that one nation should not choose representatives for another. And a member of the Presidency of BiH represents all citizens of BiH, but by force of circumstance comes from the ranks of Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs. They do not exclusively represent those peoples!

Then Ivo should answer us who needs BiH without Croats who are not HDZ BiH, and since when do parties issue national legitimacy?

Because a Croat is a Croat regardless of their political affiliation, then answer us who needs BiH without Croats who do not follow Dragan Čović, but love their homeland BiH?

Answer us how you can utter the lie that the thesis of positive, or "patriotic nationalism" reserved only for Bosniaks, is being advocated, if I, as a Bosniak woman, admit that Željko Komšić has a patriotic drive and that he fights for a BiH that will be a home for all people who respect and love it, regardless of their national background. Do you remember that civic concept that you presented so eloquently before Schmidt's arrival!?”

If I once believed that you, Ivo, loved this country and rooted for its organization in which every person would be free, why am I a nationalist?

I believed that you were also a Bosnian, and now you accuse us that behind the Bosnian nation lies a desire for Bosniak domination(!?), who, I repeat once again, vote for your namesake, believing that BiH is ready to become a European country.