The Party of Democratic Action strongly condemns the holding of a meeting in Zagreb at which, under the guise of a discussion on the position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ideas of ethno-territorial divisions are once again being promoted and new maps of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being drawn.
“Such constructions are irresistibly reminiscent of the maps that were drawn in the early 1990s, on the eve of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. These maps were not an academic exercise, nor a harmless political fantasy. They were an introduction to policies whose proponents were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for participating in a joint criminal enterprise. Therefore, every new drawing of ethnic borders in Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a dangerous political message, a direct attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, but also a gross insult to the victims of policies that attempted to realize such projects,” the SDA statement states.
It adds that Bosnia and Herzegovina is no one’s space for ideological experiments, geopolitical projections or neighborly fantasies about “reorganization”.
“Its internal organization can be discussed exclusively in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with the Constitution, laws and democratic will of its citizens and peoples. The Republic of Croatia, as a member of the European Union and NATO, has a special responsibility to respect the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One cannot talk about friendly relations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, a European future and good neighborly cooperation, while at the same time hosting events that question the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and promote maps of new ethnic divisions,” the SDA points out.
“The lack of reaction of the state authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also worrying. The silence of the institutions, especially those led by cadres of pro-Bosniak parties, to such provocations represents a worrying political and diplomatic omission. This silence is being tried to be covered up by consciously diverting public attention to ephemeral topics, while in the neighboring country new divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being publicly discussed. The state authorities that remain silent while new maps of divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being drawn in the neighborhood should leave because they are not ready to consistently protect the interests of the state,” the SDA statement says.
