The interest of the public these days has been sparked by a recent interview of SDA president Bakir Izetbegović, which he gave to Al-Arabiya television. In it, he voiced a number of complaints against the international community and its current involvement in our country. According to Izetbegović, its job is to preserve peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not to interfere in the election process. He claims that the foreigners removed the SDA from power, and calls on Islamic countries to be more involved helping Bosniaks, who, according to his assessment, have once again been left to defend for themselves.
“Foreigners are currently working to deliver us, to reduce the power of Bosniaks, reduce the influence of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans in order to satisfy the other two parties, primarily the Serbian side, which is very aggressive in politics. I think that few Muslims, autochthonous – white Muslims in Europe deserve more attention from the Islamic world, from strong Muslim countries. So, to simply protect us from persecution, humiliation, double standards”, said Izetbegović.
This is a dangerous narrative – says UNSA professor Enver Kazaz. Especially since Bosnia and Herzegovina definitely entered the zone of interest of the EU and the NATO pact after the war in Ukraine. Haris Imamović, advisor to the former member of the BiH Presidency Šefik Džaferović, does not agree with this, who sees the call for greater involvement of Islamic countries as an opportunity to strengthen the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans.
“We are a country whose center or perspective must be Brussels. We must have friends in Brussels, Washington and London, because these are currently the most powerful countries in the world,” says Kazaz.
“It should be done because there are no friends-enemies in international relations. They have state and national interests and you are looking for allies on all sides,” Imamović said.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently one of the more prosperous countries in the region. With, of course, many political challenges, but also doubts. The dilemma is often how and to what extent foreign interests should intertwine on its soil. How to evaluate which are benevolent and which are not?
“Bosnia and Herzegovina should cooperate with everyone who is its friend, while taking care that the autocratic regimes that exist in the Arab world cannot be a partner for what we would call a democratic system of values,” says Kazaz.
“Our people make a false dilemma about who we are for – for both of us. It’s better to have two friends than one,” says Imamović.
There is nothing wrong with trying to engage Islamic countries in Bosnia and Herzegovina – said political analyst Danijal Hadžović. He believes that those countries are not that powerful, but neither are they interested in playing a geopolitical game with the USA and the EU on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“In terms of values, Bosnia and Herzegovina must be clearly committed to the EU, to the West, to NATO,” says Hadžović.
The years during and after the war have shown that Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country has friends on all sides. Of course, they also had their own, with some exceptions, economic, but also political interests. Who are friends is best demonstrated by concrete aid, but also by investments in the development of the country, not only by influence on the international scene.
