No one intends to review history, I hope Nikolić will change his stance

Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegović today responded to statements by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić that he will not attend the commemoration of the centenary of the beginning of World War I in Sarajevo, where Serbs are being blamed.

- I do not know where Mr. Nebojša Radmanović first, and now President Nikolić, got such a stance and on what they base it, because there have been no such statements before. No one intends to review history, determine who is guilty, accuse even the perpetrator of the assassination, let alone an entire nation - said Izetbegović.

He said that, quite the opposite, they will try to round off a hundred years of conflicts and draw lessons based on these hundred years, which "we can call the century of wars and chart a path of a hundred years of peace."

- Regarding the plaques placed on the City Hall, at the time when the City Hall was burned, the maternity hospital, the Oriental Institute, Zetra, Olympic facilities were also burned, that was the time when the genocide against Sarajevo began. Because 11,541 Sarajevans will be shot from the hills surrounding Sarajevo, nearly 1,600 children were killed, among them many Serbs, that plaque speaks of the criminals who did that and that plaque there is a mirror of what was happening there at that time. One should not be angry at the mirror if it shows an ugly picture - said Izetbegović.

He emphasized that he hopes Radmanović and Nikolić, and generally Serbian and Serbian politicians, will change their stance.

- We have no intention of accusing the Serbian people with whom we live. We intend to accuse criminals, but we will not do that on this occasion either. On this occasion, we will try to convey messages of peace - said Izetbegović.

Asked whether he will be a candidate for the Bosniak member of the Presidency from the SDA, Izetbegović said that a decision on that will be made in the next month.

- Nominations from the field follow, triage of those nominations. I think my chances for that are solid and it is likely that the SDA may nominate me, but nothing is certain - said Izetbegović.

Regarding the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdžija, Izetbegović said that the SDA will make an official stance on that at the Collegium, and possibly at the party Presidency.

- Given everything that has happened in the last four years, I think there is a mood in the SDA to reject such a decision. But, we will see - said Izetbegović.