The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United States of America, Sven Alkalaj, reacted to the articles published in the American newspaper The Washington Times, assessing that Bosnia and Herzegovina is portrayed as an extremist and unstable country without any basis.
In the author’s comment from February 23, he stated that two texts were recently published – an interview with SNSD president Milorad Dodik entitled “Republika Srpska deserves independence” and a comment by Max Primorc entitled “Islamic state on the border of NATO?” – in which claims are made that Bosnia and Herzegovina is becoming more and more radical and unstable.
“Recently, we have been witnessing synchronized xenophobic attacks on Bosnian society, which not so long ago survived mass murders, persecutions, mass rapes and camps,” said Alkalaj.
According to him, the messages spread by Dodik and Primorac are reminiscent of the rhetoric of the former president of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, whom he calls the “Balkan butcher”. He reminded that the policy of the nineties led to more than two million refugees and over 100,000 killed, culminating in the genocide in Srebrenica.
“That is why it is crucial that such public statements are considered with historical accuracy and moral clarity – the ambassador pointed out, adding that it is important to know “who are Milorad Dodik and Max Primorac”.
He stated that Dodik is a “genocide denier who personally decorated convicted war criminals responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica”, and reminded that he declares himself a Chetnik, alluding to the historical role of that movement during the Second World War.
Referring to the statements of the Israeli memorial institution Yad Vashem, Alkalaj quoted their description of the Chetnik movement: “As the Chetniks increased their cooperation with the Germans, their attitude towards the Jews in the areas under their control worsened and they identified the Jews with the hated communists. There were many cases of killing Jews or handing them over to the Germans.”
“These are historical facts and we encourage you to check them,” said Alkalaj.
In the text, he also recalled the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights according to which Jews and members of other minorities cannot be candidates for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He emphasized that Bosniak political representatives supported the constitutional changes that would make this possible, while Dodik and his political partners rejected them.
Referring to the allegations about the alleged conversion of churches into mosques, the ambassador stated that during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the so-called “Army of the Republic of Srpska” demolished 534 mosques, while the Croatian Defense Council destroyed 80 of them.
“At the same time, Bosniaks protected churches and synagogues, so that none were destroyed in the territories under the control of legal Bosnian forces,” he stated.
He specifically referred to Primorac, claiming that he promotes the idea of a “third entity” and that his views reflect the ideological patterns associated with the Ustasha movement. He also mentioned that Primorč’s father was connected to emigrant structures that inherited that ideology, but added that “the sins of the father do not necessarily determine the attitudes of the son”, with the assessment that contemporary rhetoric that stigmatizes entire communities “inevitably requires serious analysis”.
The ambassador decisively rejected the claims that the authorities in Sarajevo were planning to sell the Sarajevo Haggadah.
“That’s a shameful lie. Bosnia preserved the Haggadah through war, occupation and genocide, protecting the symbol of interreligious heritage,” he said.
At the end of the column, he warned that distorting history and inciting ethnic tensions has serious social consequences.
“In a world that continues to face the legacy of the Holocaust and the Yugoslav wars, giving space to voices that coincide with genocidal ideologies represents a moral failure,” he stated.
He concluded that before publishing or quoting political actors, their historical connections, ideological positions and public statements must be thoroughly checked.
“History teaches us how dangerous indifference is in the face of extremist narratives. Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country that survived aggression, genocide and ethnic cleansing, deserves to have its story told accurately and with moral responsibility,” Ambassador Alkalaj said.
