Salihović: We will achieve freedom, there is nothing radical about us!

Almir Salihović, coordinator of the Coalition “First March” sent a message to the public on the occasion of the Independence Day holiday, which the Patria News Agency conveys in its entirety.

- Dear citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, tomorrow is the greatest holiday of our homeland, Independence Day. It is a day when our fathers and mothers, our grandfathers and grandmothers, and among you there are certainly those who themselves chose the independence and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina on that day. I have read a lot about the circumstances and the time in which this decision was made. You know, on that day, many of those who gave their lives in the war, many who lost their homes, many who are far away today, displaced, also voted.

Because of this fact, I must have the strength to move forward. My generation, the people gathered around “First March”, whether from Srebrenica, Bratunac, Zvornik, Prijedor, Sarajevo, Stolac, Foča, whether they were good or bad students, activists in or outside parties, influential individuals or ordinary citizens, have a responsibility for all other generations to come.

They ask me, why did we give our initiative the name “First March”? The answer is clear, so that all displaced persons can vote in the place where they voted on that first of March 1992. But the story of our name does not end there. It becomes a symbol of resistance. It refuses to be associated with worn-out stories, it is an idea whose final result is yet to come.

We have survived everything, we are moving forward. When someone we supported makes a mistake, we bear the brunt. When someone fails to solve the problems of returnees in the RS that have been accumulating for years, they blame us. When bans on work are threatened, we are the example on which the authorities in the RS demonstrate their power. But we fight based on values, based on fundamental human rights and the freedom of every citizen.

There is nothing radical about us. Our desire is a society without discrimination. Children of returnees attending healthy schools, together with other children, without dividing them into 'Bosniak' and 'Serb'. Brave entrepreneurs working without obstruction and pressure in local communities. Renovated roads and basic means of subsistence secured for every citizen. And finally, freedom. The freedom to do what we want, live where we want, and create good for those who will come after us. Our freedom is our victory. Happy March 1st, homeland. We will achieve freedom.