Why would we be European servants, when we are descendants of Bosnian kings

Written by: Rasim Belko

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Banovi, kings, heroes, known and unknown. Wars, storms, occupiers, tyrants. Crime, struggle, defense. 

FREEDOM! That is the most sublime thing we achieved with the referendum in 1992. True, we did not get that freedom easily then. We had to earn it and fight for it. But, freedom has been one of the most sublime goals throughout human history worth fighting for. We fought and we won. 

We survived the WAR and welcomed PEACE. Not all of us, we lost many, but we finally got an independent state of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. 

The peace we received did not mean tranquility for us. That peace only stopped death. But, when has peace ever meant tranquility in this volatile land of ours. Never. Peace in the homeland of Bosnians and Herzegovinians is another sublime goal, for which much blood was shed, but tranquility never came. 

STRUGGLE is what came after peace. And the struggle from the hills and valleys of Bosnia and Herzegovina never really left. We fought against occupiers, against tyranny, against poverty, against winds and storms. Neither our ancestors, nor the ancestors of our ancestors were spared from struggle. Struggle is one of the codes of the land on which we grew up and us as its fruits. 

Just remember Krleža's saying that no one has ever seen a stećak tombstone on which a Bosnian highlander is depicted in any position other than upright. 

However, the struggle we have been waging since the arrival of peace, in 1995, it seems we are losing. Not because our fighting code has evaporated. We are losing the struggle because we have allowed someone and some people to convince us that it is better elsewhere, and that it will only get worse here. 

We have forgotten Aleksa Šantić's words that the sun of a foreign sky will not warm us like ours, the Bosnian sun, does. 

Today is March 1st again. The year is 2020, exactly 28 years after that YES to the question, "Are you for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens, the peoples of BiH - Muslims, Serbs, Croats, and members of other nations living in it?". 

But, today, from the sea to the Sava River, from the Drina to the Una River, numerous people are saying YES when asked if you want to go to Germany. Symbolism or someone's plan, it's hard to say, but precisely on this March 1st, a new law comes into effect that facilitates travel to Germany. 

Thousands of Bosnians and Herzegovinians are preparing to leave their ancestral homes. They will leave everything and embark on a future that is presented to them as safe and stable. 

Therefore, today, on the 28th anniversary of freedom and independence, I am free to ask the question: why didn't we leave in 1992? Back then, the future in Western Europe was certainly safer than in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was entering a war.
Why did we stay? Why did most of us stay and wait for the war, wait for the STRUGGLE for peace, for the homeland. Why did we defend the homeland from which we can't wait to escape? 

In that war, we defeated militarily superior forces, defended ourselves, suffered losses, but still felt like victors because we preserved our homeland. 

For what reason are we surrendering today to a few mafia families and admitting their victory. Are we aware that their victory is the end of FREEDOM, the end of STRUGGLE, and the END of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. 

Because, we must be aware that everyone who leaves today will have nowhere to return. One by one, we will all leave.

To whom will we leave our roots and all that our parents, our ancestors, have acquired. To whom will we leave the memory of the genocide, of the martyrs and fallen soldiers. To whom will we leave Bjelašnica, Treskavica, Jahorina, Prenj, Neretva, Sana, Drina. 

Are we thinking about what they are offering us? Are they offering us to become Germans, Austrians, Swedes... NO! They are offering us to do what Germans, Austrians, Swedes, and others will not. They are offering us to be servants and do everything they don't want to do. 

And we are not a people who should be servants, because by doing so we would trample on our banovi, kings, and heroes. 

That is why we must not give up the STRUGGLE! For this struggle, we now need intelligence, energy, and an extra atom of love for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Why would we go to serve, when our ancestors were kings. 

Let's awaken the code for struggle and defend our country, because without it, we will not exist, no matter where we live. 

The struggle for the homeland is a struggle for freedom, and only a FREE person knows what LIFE is!