Topić: Croats can live unhindered in Sarajevo, I urge them to come and live here

On the eve of the Catholic Christmas holiday, the Honorary President of HKD (The Croat Cultural Society) Napredak, Franjo Topić, talks about the current situation in BiH, the life of Catholics in Sarajevo.

‘The situation is complicated, but you know, nothing has worked in Bosnia, and neither will crisis. Here, the situation is mostly viewed through politics, government, which then determines our public opinion. I’d rather look through other things. It is a pity to quarrel. An argument will not bring good. It poisons people, and if a person is poisoned, then it will hardly work well’, says Franjo Topić.

Speaking about politicians who bring about quarrels, Professor Topić recalled the time when he was considered a Croat nationalist. It was a time when today's nationalists, he says, were Yugoslavs and long-serving communists. ‘It should be important for sociologists to theoretically process that… as to how former communists, who were staunch communists, became staunch nationalists. But it's all for the sake of power, you know. God forbid that communism comes again, they would probably be communists again, says Topić.

A false picture of people’s quarrels

The Honorary President of HKD Napredak would like to tell the BiH citizens that war and the atmosphere of conflict should be avoided at all costs. According to Topić, war is in the head and in the heart, it is not the mere act of shooting. He is happy to learn that the nations, despite everything that is happening, are not in a fight, and the atmosphere of conflict is created by the political parties.

‘It is especially sensitive here because the parties are mostly national. And when parties quarrel, it looks like as if the nations quarrel. And to be clear, most people are not interested in that at all. For most people, the most important thing is the bread and the roof. And then peace. I will repeat the thought that has been dear to me since the war. Peace is not everything, but without peace everything is nothing.’

Topić points out that the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not a good solution, and that everyone knows that, ‘from Biden to the last grandmother here’. He sees the solution in the cantonization of the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he advocated at the time of the negotiation of the Washington Agreement, but after the Dayton Agreement, it became impossible.

‘There must be a combined democracy. It means that human rights are respected, individual rights, regardless of whether someone has their own nation or something else personally, but also national rights’, believes Franjo Topić.

You can live in Bosnia both as a Croat and as a Catholic

The former head of Napredak believes that Croats in BiH are not endangered, and he documents this with the stats relating to educational institutions. He points out that Croats here have 95 Croat primary schools, 46 grammar schools, two universities, two dailies, and a number of smaller newspapers. HKD Napredak alone publishes four papers. All Croats in Germany, says Topić, have one paper, Catholic, church and have nothing more.

‘And then they say that we have nothing here… Every party would like at least 100% of power. If it doesn’t have it, the party becomes frustrated and then it transmits it to people through the media and in other ways. That is how a negative public opinion is created. It is possible to live here both as a Croat and as a Catholic and everyone else, a Bosniak, a Serb, and we can live well and in good relations’, says Topić.

According to Topic, Croats can live unhindered in Sarajevo. It is the seat of the Archdiocese, the Franciscan Province (Bosna Srebrena), five orders of nuns, Napredak is based in Sarajevo, the Catholic School Center as well.

‘Some Croats say that it is not possible to live in Sarajevo, and I repeat: No general interests can be defended and promoted without the capital… Sarajevo is very important. Sarajevo has become a ‘European Jerusalem’ and in that sense I think it is a pity to withdraw. I invite Croats who can to come and live here. We have Croats who travel to work here every day from Travnik, Vitez. Well, that just sucks.

That's a minimum of three, four hours in the car. You get tired, lose half your working hours in the car. Instead of coming to live here,’ Professor Topić told BHRT. He who does not respect the dead does not respect the living Franjo Topić claims that no normal person should support war criminals and that one crime should not justify other crimes.

‘Victims must be respected. A mother, or a father who has lost two sons – for them all is dead. For what reason, religion, nation, state - it is completely secondary to them. He who does not respect the dead does not respect the living. And you can't manipulate that. I know it is not easy to acknowledge one's own crimes, it is not easy to repent, it is completely humanly understandable, but it cannot be supported’, categorically states Franjo Topić.

Topic advocates ecumenism and dialogue, and sees BiH as a theological place and works persistently to develop them. ‘If ecumenism does not succeed here, it will not succeed or it will significantly harm interreligious dialogue and ecumenism in the whole world’, says Topić.