Council of National Minorities of Sarajevo Canton Sends Demant to HRT Regarding Aleksandar Stanković's Show

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Council of National Minorities of Sarajevo Canton has sent a letter to HRT-HTV 1, signed by its president Davor Ebner, reacting to a statement made by the host of the show "Nedjeljom u 2" (Sundays at 2), Aleksandar Stanković, who, in a conversation with the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, stated among other things: "It's not the same, you don't have national minorities like in Croatia, you have three constituent peoples, it's not the same."

The letter, addressed to Katja Kušec, Editor-in-Chief of HRT-HTV, states that incorrect information was presented in the show in question. Pursuant to Article 2, Paragraph (3) of the Law on Electronic Media ("NN RH," Nos. 153/09, 84/11, 94/13, and 136/13), and in relation to Article 40 of the Law on Media ("NN RH," Nos. 59/04, 84/11, and 81/13), we hereby request that you publish a correction without changes or additions, in the same or an equivalent place in the program schedule and in the same or an equivalent manner as the information to which the correction refers, as follows:

- The statement by Mr. Aleksandar Stanković: "It's not the same, you don't have national minorities like in Croatia, you have three constituent peoples, it's not the same," made at minute 50:20 of the show, is incorrect. Since the guest of the show was a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we interpret the word "you" to refer to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Indeed, the fact is that members of the same national minorities live in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, namely: Albanians, Austrians, Montenegrins, Czechs, Hungarians, Macedonians, Germans, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Rusyns, Slovaks, Slovenes, Italians, Turks, Ukrainians, and Jews. This can be easily determined by examining the results of the population censuses conducted in both countries, or by comparing the content of the regulations governing the socio-legal status of national minorities. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the status of national minorities is regulated by the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Members of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH," Nos. 12/03, 76/05, and 93/08). Article 3, Paragraph (1) of this Law states: "A national minority, in accordance with this law, is a part of the population – citizens of BiH who do not belong to any of the three constituent peoples, and is composed of people of the same or similar ethnic origin, the same or similar traditions, customs, beliefs, language, culture, and spirituality, and close or related history and other characteristics."

Therefore, it can be concluded that in the Republic of Croatia, members of national minorities, along with other citizens, live alongside one state-forming people – the Croats, while in BiH, members of national minorities, along with other citizens, live alongside three state-forming (constituent) peoples – Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs.

We are aware that the constitutional and legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina may appear overly complicated to an outside observer. It almost certainly is. However, this should not be a reason to deny the existence of minority ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina by presenting incorrect information.

Members of national minorities in BiH, if we recall the court case Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina – which was heard before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and whose outcome drew domestic and international attention to the discriminatory nature of the BiH Constitution – are actively engaged in efforts to make Bosnia and Herzegovina a better, fairer, and more pleasant place to live for everyone, Ebner states.