Lendo: Independence Day is the most important day, the civic foundation of Bosnia was not destroyed by aggressions, joint criminal enterprises, and genocide!

(Patria) - Completely consciously, clearly and loudly, we titled the gathering: Bosnia is Bosnian!

Bosnia is Bosnian, no matter how unwelcome it may be to the ears of those who dislike any state attribution of our homeland, despite the fact that everyone around us nominates both Bosnian people and the Bosnian state in this way, both historically and colloquially, said the president of Krug 99, Adil Kulenović, in his opening remarks at the Ceremonial Academy and session of Krug 99.

He added that they completely consciously, clearly and loudly titled the gathering: Bosnia is Bosnian!

“A profane example of the most frequent Google search about BiH, what the two names in the state name BiH mean, is certainly not the reason for the title. But it is contained in the primordial principle, in the deep roots from the distant past and the desirable, modern democratic future. The sword of Damocles of division, which has been hanging over our country since the Congress of Berlin at least, when the unhistorical name, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was crafted, up to the present times, must finally be removed. The aspirations of a free Bosnian state are the modern democratic world and the removal of the yoke of corporeal separatism, a special case, constituent peoples, which is only in the interest of aggressive
irredentist and hegemonic aspirations. And the reason for the constant fears of a state of neither war nor peace,” added Kulenović. .

As he says: “Our festive act today takes place in conditions of the greatest challenges, which in many ways resemble the pre-war ones. Even more complex circumstances. Therefore, we should also deliberate today on the referendum pledge in realpolitik circumstances, after the presentations, even at this festive session”.

The Vice President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Refik Lendo, stated that Independence Day is one of the most important dates in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He reminded that on that date, more than two million citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina decisively and with dignity voted for the restoration of BiH's statehood.

- Citizens, not peoples, by their vote, said that they want an independent, internationally recognized, civic state of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Lendo stated today at a press conference before the ceremonial academy and session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals "Krug 99" on the occasion of BiH Independence Day, titled "Bosnia is Bosnian".

Lendo, who had the opening address at the ceremonial academy, stated that the referendum question reflected the will and vision of the policy on which the idea of an independent, sovereign, internationally recognized Republic of BiH was built.

However, he said, it is also the foundation of the policy of a European BiH, a civic state in which all citizens and peoples are equal before the law and in which every citizen's vote counts the same.

Lendo stated that the referendum on BiH was conducted in accordance with domestic and international rules, in a legal and transparent manner, with international monitoring.

- With the democratic decision on BiH's independence, it restored its full independence and sovereignty after foreign administrations and actions within various state unions. What is very important, BiH is not a three-nation state, nor a state of three constituent peoples. BiH is internationally recognized as the state of all its citizens and all its peoples - said Lendo.

According to him, the subject of international law is a state in which all citizens of BiH constitute one political subject in the eyes of the world and international law.

Lendo noted that the state-legal continuity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has lasted for more than a thousand years and whose fundamental political idea of a civic state was revitalized by the restoration of statehood and international recognition, has never created an obstacle nor otherwise prevented ethnic communities from living in peace, with their cultures, customs, and expressing their political will.

- Neither by the executed aggression, nor by the joint criminal enterprise, nor by the planned and executed genocide against Bosniaks, have they managed to destroy the multi-ethnic character and civic foundation of the state of BiH. The Hague Tribunal has ruled on these anti-civilizational policies, but their followers in BiH and the surrounding area are trying to realize them at the expense of the state of BiH and its citizens - said Lendo.

Therefore, he added, the noble goal of a civic state as the foundation of the referendum question is so important, "and that is why we must preserve it for the generations to come".

Lendo says that there will be various deviant interpretations that will try to turn the referendum question and everything that preceded it against the idea of a civic state and against all citizens of BiH.

According to him, citizens voted in the referendum, not peoples, "they voted for a state of all citizens, not for individual peoples or a state union of three peoples".

- Citizens of BiH loyal to the state defended their commitment expressed in the referendum with armed force and their own lives, and they will defend it in peace with all available legal and political means - said the Vice President of the Federation of BiH, Refik Lendo.

He stated that the political goal of the authorities in BiH is "for our country to become a full member of the European Union and NATO".

He says that the conditions set for full membership are the same conditions that the citizens of BiH agreed to by supporting the referendum question.

- This once again confirms the correctness and credibility of the policies for both the referendum and the referendum question. That is why it is very important today to inform the citizens and generations who participated at that time, and especially to send a message to the young generations, to pay attention to that period, to the referendum question which was supported by 63 percent of the citizens of BiH at that time, such an independent, sovereign BiH, that we continue to defend and protect it in peace through political dialogue, through political struggle in the coming period, sovereignty, territorial integrity.

- These conditions that need to be met today for accession to the European Union are nothing more than respect for our conclusions and principled decisions from 1992 in the referendum question 'are you for a sovereign state of BiH, citizens of BiH, and then Serbs and Muslims and Croats and others living in BiH'. That referendum question today and in the future must remain on the track of the political struggle of all its peoples, all citizens, regardless of the fact that today we do not all look at the referendum question in the same way, nor at the time that was happening around BiH at that time - concluded Lendo.