Zeljka – the terrorist

By: Armin Aljovic

The president of the Republika Srpska, Zeljka Cvijanovic recently stated that she was 'very concerned about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina' and that it was absurd that none of the foreign diplomats in BiH seemed to care.

In an interview for 'Vecernji List' she also said that 'any terrorist attack that has been carried out in the world is in one way or another connected to Bosnia and Herzegovina, whether by the weapons or documents'. She used New York and Madrid as the examples.

Her statement about 'any terrorist attack in the world' and the example of 'New York and Madrid' should be supplemented as follows: '... or in New Zealand, when the terrorist Brenton Tarrant killed about 50 Muslims while praying at two mosques in Christchurch, because he was inspired by Radovan Karadzic, the first president the Republika Srpska convicted for the genocide in Srebrenica and other war crimes over Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats or Bosnian Serbs who had resisted his ideology'.  

It should be underlined that Karadzic's seat is now occupied by Cvijanovic who does not seem to see any problem relating to those crimes.

Given that Zeljka Cvijanovic did not complete her thought/statement, it is clear that she cannot be 'very concerned about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina' as such radicalism does not exist – her statement about the alleged rise of Islamic radicalism in BiH is actually an uncreative attempt by a local politician such as Cvijanovic, to mount the global wave of Islamophobia for quick political points.

According to the national and international reports, there has been no rise of Islamic radicalism observed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or 'a small number vis a vis population numbers...', the reason why 'none of the foreign diplomats seem to care'.  

Although non-existent, the story about Islamic radicalism in the country which Muslims share with other religions is the cheapest yet the most efficient way to divert minds of hungry voters from their stomachs.

The same theory of the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been spread around for a while by Cvijanovic's coalition partners from HDZ; for example, the president of Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, has spoken about 10,000 terrorists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though such allegations have been denied by both Croatian and Bosnian intelligence agencies. After all, Cvijanovic has shared her theory with Vecernji List controlled by the right wing of HDZ.  

And while the face of the German interior minister Thomas de Maziere lights up when speaking about Bosnian Muslims, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy refers to Bosnian Muslims as the 'biggest Europeans among Europeans', or while Pope Francis gives to Dodik a present of the charter signed with the imam of Al-Azhar mosque, thus sending a pretty clear message about the coexistence with Bosniaks... for Cvijanovic, Bosnian Muslims are merely Islamic radicals.

This is not the first time that Cvijanovic systemically manipulates the public. She found herself amidst the scandal when her telephone conversation with a friend leaked... A female voice on the other side of the phone (identity unknown) was asking Cvijanovic to give the green light for 'story about Bosnian language'.

Woman: 'Well I wanted to ask you if we could go ahead with the story... we have already recruited Milos Kovacevic to got to media with the story about Bosnian/Bosniak language...'

Zeljka Cvijanovic: '... of course he should go, nobody's stopping him, but it is the academic community to pursue that and explain that, and then to make a TV show.'

After that, the school teachers in the RS began to write in transcripts Bosniak instead of Bosnian language, which caused great distress among Bosniak returnees and engaged BH public in the months that followed.  

The only good thing that Bosniaks should do for themselves and others is to remain turned towards Europe and European friends, leaving Zeljka behind to roll in her own terrorism.

Any other response would be counterproductive.