Besides all internal enemies, the most circulated media imports Raspudić: Reis and a Ustaša, it doesn't work!

By Rasim BELKO

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Bosnia and Herzegovina has so many internal enemies that every imported one represents an additional piece of the mosaic of the story by which our country is to be destroyed and turned into a mini-state for the never-extinguished dream of Greater Serbia and Croatia. 

Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik, with their accomplices and henchmen, are an increasingly difficult problem to solve, constantly growing and threatening the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and even the very existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

And while the two ringleaders of internal problems are driven by self-interest and Greater-state motives, some media outlets have begun importing fascists and political terrorists from Croatia into the quagmire of public space. 

In fact, to be specific, Avaz, in its yesterday's issue, dedicated two-thirds of its front page to the fascist Nino Raspudić, a Croatian MP and advocate of policies that would turn BiH into Palestine at best, although their ultimate goal is its final disappearance. 

Who and why thought that Nino Raspudić, with his opus, could say something intelligent? That is a question for Avaz and the editorial policy of the newspaper that calls itself 'Bosnia and Herzegovinian'.

However, there is a more significant and vital question – who motivated Avaz to introduce Raspudić into public discourse and give him an opportunity for an open attack on the multi-ethnicity of BiH and the election of Željko Komšić as a member of the BiH Presidency. 

I would least like this to be understood as a defense of Komšić, because it is not. But Komšić is a member of the collective Presidency of our country, and as such, whether we like it or not, we must all defend him. Because it is true that Komšić was not elected only by Croats, but that doesn't have to be the case. 

It is most accurate that he was elected by Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks alike. Exactly in line with the definition from '45, but also with the Dayton Constitution. And in this, neither by law nor by the customs of this country, is there a problem for anyone except Čović. 

Because in the constellation of forces that Čović and his mentors from Croatia have advocated for so far, and from yesterday, Avaz too, HDZ would be an eternal factor in power in the country. In translation, this country could not move forward an inch, because Čović and his ilk only swim well in the quagmire. 

The Croatian offensive on Bosnia and Herzegovina has been going on for years. Openly and without hesitation, sometimes only Čović and Andrej Plenković, and now Zoran Milanović. And now we have the pro-Ustaša Raspudić. 

Because what Nino Raspudić is telling us and demanding from the pages of Avaz is an open Ustaša matrix, a kind of copy of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), according to which Croats (read: HDZ) must be in power. Just like the Ustaše in the past, Raspudić today also does not care what the Croats who do not see HDZ as their matrix want. 

How did we reach a situation where the most circulated daily newspaper in BiH gives an opportunity to a man who would declare a member of the BiH Presidency a persona non grata in Croatia. 

Whatever the motives behind the interview with a man who plays the cards of Ustaša politics, besides the citizens and patriots of BiH, it will certainly hit perhaps the longest-standing guardians of BiH's identity and independence – the Franciscan friars of BiH.

Because the Ustaša matrix has long been acting against our Franciscan friars in BiH. Nino Raspudić has recently been the leading voice of these Ustaša ideas. 

Therefore, I will only remind you of some words from fra Ivan Šarčević, a professor at the Franciscan Theology and guardian of the monastery of St. Anthony in Sarajevo. 

When asked why the Franciscans react to Raspudić's statements, fra Šarčević says: "The friars would not react to what Raspudić and others like him say 'from afar' if it didn't have such acceptance everywhere, both in Croatia and in Bosnia. Raspudić claims that even the majority of people in Bosnia are not for the friars and their politics. It would take a long time to defend, and even theologically justify, the friars' work, which is not to be politically involved day-to-day, partisan, to be just the voice of the people, for friars not to be 'voted' like their 'sheep', just as Jesus ultimately did not do. 

We know how the fickle people turned away from Jesus and chose Barabbas. It is enough to say that Raspudić is a seducer, a nationalist demagogue like many with unawakened consciences who know what 'suits' a frightened and threatened people and how to capitalize on their sophistry. The consent of the people is not an argument for Christian or Franciscan action. After all, the German people massively stood by Hitler, the Croats by Pavelić, the Serbs by Milošević. These are the arguments of all mass seducers. Raspudić is one of them in the media sphere, while in the political field, Dragan Čović is the most prominent, who, not by chance, from one of the 'self-managers' of the most prestigious Yugoslav aircraft factory, Soko, teaches the subject: Human Resource Management at the University of Mostar. Therefore, it is honorable not to side with these Barabbases and mass support."

I believe there are few who will not understand this message.

Therefore, I hope that Raspudić and others like him will no longer have the opportunity to attack the state organization and existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina with such breadth, no matter how much one wants to remove or attack opponents on the political scene. 

And finally, the fact that the Ustaša Nino Raspudić and the Reis-ul-ulema Husein ef. Kavazović are found 'next to each other' on the fifth page of Dnevni avaz is particularly interesting. 

We have said enough about the former, and the latter has been declared person of the day because he gathered pro-Bosnian, and actually Bosniak, leaders Bakir Izetbegović, Elmedin Konaković, and SBB leader Fahrudin Radončić, who is close to Avaz. Nermin Nikšić was also there, but fortunately for him and SDP, he did not sign the Reis's declaration, which is actually Izetbegović's pamphlet. 

The configuration of the page between Raspudić and the Reis's politicians is perhaps the best imprint of the momentum in which Bosnia and Herzegovina finds itself. 

And because of that momentum, many should be worried. Because a Ustaša and a Reis, it doesn't work. Not at all!