'Republika Srpska is like a Nazi name'

Prepared by: Sead Omeragić

How did we get the name Republika Srpska? Under what circumstances was the Republic taken from the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina and given to its entity RS? Although before that in negotiations in Geneva, Republika Srpska was mentioned as the name of the BiH entity, it could only be heard from foreign peace negotiators. The persistent insistence on RS as the name of the entity by the negotiators was regularly denied by the Bosnian negotiating teams. But, everything important regarding the name of the state of BiH and the RS entity happened on this day in 1995 in Ankara, Turkey, at the residence of the American ambassador Marc Grossman.

The BiH delegation included Alija Izetbegović, the then Bosnian president, and Muhamed Šaćirbey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On the other side were Richard Holbrooke, Bob Owen, General Wesley Clark...

American negotiator Richard Holbrooke wrote: "The scene that unfolded in Grossman's living room is memorable. Everyone was tired, but we had to discuss important issues. The central issue concerned names - the name of the country and the name of each entity."

It should be said that the day before, the American delegation had visited Athens and Skopje, where they discussed the name and flag of Macedonia. Greece opposed the name Macedonia, demanding that "Former Yugoslav Republic" precede it. Holbrooke observed it this way: "We were particularly sensitive and increasingly tired of the obsession of leaders in this region with words and names. No side could achieve a direct military victory anymore, but the leaders of all three sides were willing to let their people die while they argued." He would drastically change his opinion somewhat later.

The American delegation, with Bob Owen and Christopher Hill, was in Belgrade with Milošević and agreed on a document titled: "Jointly Agreed Statement on Political Principles." The discussion in Ankara continued. "Long after midnight, we narrowed the discussion down to just two sentences - but they were critical to the future of Bosnia. The previous day, we had received significant concessions from Milošević in a sentence that for the first time acknowledged that Bosnia would "continue its legal existence within its current borders and with further international recognition." Holbrooke writes the conclusions of the American delegation: "First, by accepting the text 'continue its legal existence,' Milošević agreed that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina legally exists - moreover, an existence that will 'continue,' clearly implying retroactive acceptance of Bosnia's claim to independence, which the Serbs had rejected throughout the war. Second, recognition within 'its current borders.' Speaking on behalf of Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs, Milošević accepted the existing borders of Bosnia, thus officially ending Serbia's territorial claims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and rejecting the separatist goals of the Bosnian Serbs. 'Third,' Holbrooke quotes the conclusions of the American delegation, 'further international recognition.' If Milošević had only said international recognition, there would have been uncertainty about what was recognized. But the use of the word 'further' eliminated possible ambiguity. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the same state and will have its seat in the United Nations, quotes Holbrooke the conclusions of his American delegation.

Milošević, however, objected to the state being named the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He explicitly requested that the state be a Union or Confederation, names that we knew Izetbegović would reject. At one point, he requested that the country be called "United States of Bosnia and Herzegovina." Second, Milošević insisted that the Serbian part of the country be referred to as "Republika Srpska."

"Izetbegović objected to changing the name of the country and the phrase 'Republika Srpska'," Holbrooke recalled.

"We asked Izetbegović for the country to simply be called Bosnia and Herzegovina..." He told him: "By renouncing the word republic, you are not renouncing anything, especially now that Milošević has recognized your country within its current borders," Holbrooke addressed Izetbegović.

"Republika Srpska is like a Nazi name," Izetbegović told the American delegation.

"In our country," said Robert Owen, "some states, including Texas and Massachusetts, are called republics. It doesn't matter as long as they recognize that they are part of one country and that the rest of the world recognizes them as such." From the delegation, they interjected: "Any denial of the state by its parts makes them outlaws in international law."

"We understand your problems with this," Holbrooke told Izetbegović, "but this is the most we can do with Milošević. We don't believe the name Republika Srpska means much, however terrible, as long as you get everything else - international recognition, defined borders, acceptance of your legal status... We cannot omit Republika Srpska from the draft. I'm sorry, but this is all we can do," Holbrooke said.

It was morning when the negotiations in Ankara ended. The bombing of Serbian positions by NATO was still ongoing. In six days, in Geneva, the name of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its entity, Republika Srpska, would be confirmed.

Holbrooke found the name Republika Srpska repulsive and considered it his negotiating failure. Much later, in his memoirs, he wrote: "I regret that we did not try harder to force Milošević to forget the name Republika Srpska... I consider this a consequence of American nationality, which sometimes does not pay enough attention to the emotional or irrational in the Balkans," he wrote in his memoirs "To End a War."