Our Party (Naša Stranka) has spoken out about the announcement by former US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Michael Murphy that Bakir Izetbegović stated during the 2021 negotiations that he could live with the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and stated that this was an act of high treason.
In a press release from Our Party, they stated that Murphy’s announcement confirmed what has been suspected for years.
“Michael Murphy’s claims that the President of the Party of Democratic Action Bakir Izetbegović agreed to the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirm what has been reasonably suspected for years: the SDA is ready to divide the state in exchange for absolute power over 24 percent of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are telling them that the state, which was defended with tens of thousands of lives, is not the private property of any leader or party so that its territory can be measured by the ‘size of Slovenia’ and turned into an object of political trade,” they stated.
They also accused the SDA of hypocrisy.
“It is particularly hypocritical that the SDA is today giving lessons on patriotism and betrayal to others, while the former US ambassador claims that Bakir Izetbegović was ready to agree to the division of the country during the negotiations. If this is true, then this is one of the most politically difficult admissions in post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is even more difficult than the fact that he knew that the Bosnian agent did not have the legitimacy to initiate a review of the verdict against Serbia, and lied about it,” they said.
They also pointed out how the SDA has monopolized patriotism for years.
“For years, the SDA has been politically surviving by monopolizing patriotism and presenting itself as the only authentic protector of the state. However, such claims undermine this very narrative and raise a serious question: were completely different conversations taking place behind closed doors behind the public rhetoric about ‘defending the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina’?”, they said.
Finally, the Naša stranka emphasizes that the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina must not be questioned.
“No one has the mandate to agree to ethnic divisions of the state for the sake of preserving their own political position or a piece of territory that they could absolutistly govern. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a prey to political negotiations, nor should its territorial integrity be reduced to mathematical calculations and assessments of political benefit. That is high treason,” conclude the Our Party.
