In Banja Luka, the grand public rally “Republika Srpska Calls You” intended to honor all victims, which apparently troubled the politicians in Sarajevo.
BiH Foreign Minister and the leader of the People and Justice party, Elmedin Konaković, went so far as to express regret about living with Serbs, closely followed by the Interior Minister of the FBiH, Ramo Isak, who was also bothered by the crowd size at Krajina Square, numbering 50,000 attendees.
While Konaković shares his views on Facebook without the Presidency’s consensus, Denis Bećirović, the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, presented his case at the United Nations aiming to lobby for the adoption of resolutions to, as he states, build sustainable peace.
Konaković is annoyed by having to refer to Serbs as neighbors and is disturbed by images from Banja Luka and the rally, which he perceives as “a denial of genocide.” It is clear he chooses to ignore messages that victims existed among all parties, not solely Bosniaks as he portrays.
Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, sees this as the core difference and essence – Konaković and similar figures in Sarajevo would prefer a Serb-free, unitary BiH.
“We advocate for a Dayton-structured BiH, where we live side by side in two entities, respecting the Dayton Agreement, while you would prefer BiH to be Muslim, neither Serb nor Croat, controlled by foreign powers rather than local politicians. We will never allow this, as Republika Srpska is eternal, as is the Serb nation,” states Dodik.
Konaković was joined in his disparagement by the Federation’s top police officer. The rally, officially attended by over 50,000 people, was dismissed by Isak as “a desperate political gathering.”
Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, responded, “Leaders of ‘van’ parties, Konaković and Ramo Isak, try to downplay the magnificent turnout at yesterday’s rally in Banja Luka. Given their logistical challenges in gathering a mere hundred people, one would expect them to at least not comment on this aspect,” highlighted Cvijanović.
Political Sarajevo and Konaković also targeted the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, evidently bothered by the unity of one nation.
“Let them preach morality to whoever listens; I’ve had my fill of nonsense over the years. But let me ask them about that sniper and rifle around Sarajevo? Where are those arrested for lynching? Remember, there were genocide lawsuits filed against neighboring state leaders, only for them to retreat and rule in my favor,” Vučić stated.
While little support from Konaković and Isak for anything from the rally was expected, the opposition from Republika Srpska not joining their people was surprising. The support for the adoption of the report by the Independent International Commission on the Sufferings in Srebrenica was deemed more critical by them.
“The endorsement of this report is far more significant, in my view, as yesterday in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS) we had a unanimous stance, disregarding who attended the rally, the turnout, or the messages conveyed,” said Milan Miličević, leader of the SDS.
From the same PDP, Draško Stanivuković attended the rally stating it was essential to step out of political trenches and view matters from a broader perspective.
“Here, there is no ‘other side.’ For me, there is only Republika Srpska, and it has no alternative,” stated Stanivuković, a member of the PDP Presidency.
Historic moments call for historic decisions, wisdom, unity, and rallying around a single goal – Republika Srpska.
“We are speaking of history, people. They want to historically break down a nation. And those who were not present, you know, have the gusle. Serbs have the gusle,” expressed Željko Budimir, the Minister of Science, Technology Development, and Higher Education of Republika Srpska.
Through these gusle, heroes have been celebrated throughout Serbian history, as well as those who were not.
Source: RTRS
