You with a resolution, I with a declaration

Last week was quite confusing for anyone who was forced to follow the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time, and usual and boring for anyone who already lives in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian political jungle, where representatives of the three ethnic groups - Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats - fight like gorillas for their piece of territory, breaking small branches around them.

Bakir Izetbegović carried out the announced repackaging of SDA from an ethno-national to a civic party by not electing anyone who is not a Bosniak to party bodies at the 7th SDA Congress! A new type of democracy tailored to Izetbegović, unknown to the Western world. It is possible that Izetbegović will keep his word and embark on repackaging SDA in another way - he will convert Bosniaks into Serbs, Croats, and Others. They are the most numerous people in BiH anyway. Bosniaks will not be lacking either. This has already been tried on the director of OSA and Izetbegović's friend Osman Mehmedagić. Trading ethnic identity in BiH is a known practice.

Dodik, who presents himself as the greatest Serb, assessed Izetbegović's call to strengthen love for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina a little more – without any argument but with the aim of raising ethnic tensions in BiH and a new wave of stigmatization of Bosniaks – as a “resolution of the Muslim people in BiH calling for conflict”.

Borjana Krišto at the 7th SDA Congress “advocates for the Euro-Atlantic path of BiH” in a non-European way, meaning that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, no one has rights except those who vote for her Croatian Democratic Union, SDA, and SNSD. “I hope and deeply believe that we will build better relations and more trust among us, that the 7th Congress of the Party of Democratic Action, led by Bakir Izetbegović, will elect a leadership that, together with the political options from the other two peoples, will know how to respond to all these challenges facing BiH,” Krišto said.

Of course, everyone has the right to conduct politics in the way they think is best. The problem with ethno-national parties in BiH is that they survive on unconventional methods - sowing fear of a new war, and if they lose power, they do not hesitate to drag citizens into conflicts. They send oxen to war anyway, and the poor send their sons.

Having national awareness, which Izetbegović calls for, or ethnic awareness, which Dodik and HDZ president Dragan Čović call for, does not necessarily have to be something bad a priori; on the contrary, it often acts as a stimulus, which can be particularly useful from the perspective of the internal economy.

So, we ask ourselves, why would the “affirmation of Bosnian identity as the common identity of all citizens of BiH, while preserving ethnic particularities” be controversial at all? It is controversial, however, very controversial, because Izetbegović has entered a dead end in repackaging the state. Why is Izetbegović suddenly paying so much attention to the “affirmation of Bosnian identity as the common identity of all citizens of BiH”, while neglecting, for example, the fight against corruption, not offering economic recovery of the country, not offering a plan for strengthening the personnel of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Why does Izetbegović think that someone would suddenly start loving Bosnia and Herzegovina? Do Germans love Germany only because Angela Merkel made it so for us, or do they perhaps love Germany because Merkel brought the fight against corruption to near perfection, economically recovered the country, and only the best students can be employed in state institutions? Why would anyone suddenly start loving the country that, among others, Izetbegović destroyed and continues to destroy, after the 7th SDA Congress? What has changed since Saturday – we have already said, the country will continue not to fight corruption, Izetbegović has not offered economic recovery of society, only party membership cards of the ruling political party will continue to allow employment in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Izetbegović's wife Sebija will continue to decide on the healthcare system in Sarajevo, prosecutor's offices will continue not to arrest politicians even after proven crimes and will arrest the poor who steal a meter of wood. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there will continue to be those who can kill Dženan and David and will not be held accountable simply because they have strong connections in the judiciary.

Isn't this Izetbegović's hypocritical attack on citizens' honor? A traitor is one who does not love Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though I am the only one who benefits from Bosnia and Herzegovina?!

All of Izetbegović's shenanigans about the declaration and Dodik's and Čović's counter-attacks look like: ‘You with a resolution, I with a declaration’. The difference is that such an atmosphere suits Dodik and Čović in the process of proving that BiH is an impossible state, which cannot be said for Bosniaks, who are impossible without a state.

Of course, domestic nationalists and criminals are not solely to blame for the Bosnian chaos, which is certainly not just a Bosnian and Herzegovinian issue. There would be plenty to object to the international arbitrators as well. Even if we forget that they did almost nothing to prevent the war in the nineties, even if we forget that they behaved lukewarmly during the four-year slaughter in the former Yugoslavia, if we only admit that they helped stop the further butchery of the Balkans, their indecisive role in the region in recent years harms citizens more than it benefits them. If they had reacted in time, neither Dodik would now be calling for the secession of the RS, nor would Čović be calling for Herceg Bosna, nor would Izetbegović be embarking on the “affirmation of Bosnian identity as the common identity of all citizens of BiH” with those who do not want to see Bosnia even in a photograph.

The only thing more brazen than the policy of ethno-national leaders in BiH is when the international community only attacks the honor of those leaders.