The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, emphasized that Bosniak politics has, for more than three decades, persistently falsified both the past and the present. He noted that the majority of the Bosniak people, once collaborators of the Nazis and Ustaše, now attempt to position themselves as guardians of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s anti-fascist heritage, trying to reshape the image of a people who historically supported fascism.
On the occasion of November 25, celebrated in the Federation of BiH as the so-called “Day of Statehood of BiH,” President Dodik stated to SRNA that Serbs in BiH have the most reason and obligation to remember this date, as it reaffirms the anti-fascist nature of the Serb people, both in 1943 and today.
He recalled that in 1943, the anti-fascist movement in BiH consisted almost exclusively of Serbs, who bore the greatest sacrifices in the fight against the Ustaše and Nazis, both in BiH and throughout Yugoslavia.
- “We, who were true anti-fascists and paid a bloody price for liberation from the Nazis and Ustaše, have been unjustly categorized as oppressors. Thus, November 25, as framed by Bosniak politics, cannot even be considered a holiday, as the narrative nurtured for 30 years in Sarajevo is a falsification. This cannot be a ‘day of statehood,’ as the Bosnia and Herzegovina we live in today derives its statehood from the Dayton Peace Agreement, which the Bosniaks despise,” Dodik stressed.
He pointed out that there has never been an agreement in BiH to commemorate November 25 as a holiday, a requirement under the Dayton Agreement, as the Bosniaks knew well that the statehood of today’s BiH cannot be tied to this date.
- “If their intentions were truly civilizational, they would say, ‘Let us commemorate November 25 as a day honoring the anti-fascist struggle.’ But how can those who perished en masse in Bleiburg celebrate an anti-fascist holiday? This is why Republika Srpska, whose ancestors inscribed the anti-fascist history of all BiH with their lives and blood, respectfully remembers its predecessors but cannot participate in commemorating a falsified holiday of statehood,” said President Dodik.
November 25 and ZAVNOBiH
ZAVNOBiH was founded on November 25, 1943, in Mrkonjić Grad during World War II as the central political representation of the People’s Liberation Movement and the highest body of popular government in BiH.
In the Federation of BiH, this day is celebrated as the alleged “Day of Statehood of BiH,” while in Republika Srpska, it is not recognized as a holiday because it lacks agreement from all three constituent peoples in BiH.
Source : RTRS
