The announced gathering of Bosniak political representatives scheduled for April 12th in Sarajevo, convened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Elmedin Konakovic, has caused many reactions in the public.
Although Konakovic distanced himself and stated that the idea of gathering Bosniaks from the region, with the aim of considering the position and status of this people, is not his own, the majority of reactions and refusals have been directed towards him because he is the formal organizer and the one who sent the invitations.
This issue can be approached in several ways, raising even more questions about the advantages, disadvantages, and political wisdom of the idea.
In general, if someone gathers any political representatives in one place with the intention of attempting to find a solution to improve the status of citizens, in an attempt to solve problems, they have taken a step forward. However, the context, timing, and political background in this case raise a large number of questions.
The first question is in what framework does the organizer of the meeting want to speak? Is politics in that context conducted exclusively along ethnic lines, and how will that reflect on the complex political situation in BiH? Then, who are the representatives of the Bosniaks, or why, for example, is Denis Becirovic, a member of the Presidency of BiH from the Bosniak constituency, not on the list of invitees? If he was not invited, why not? If he refused, why did he refuse?
Although the organizers of the gathering will deny making any kind of parallel with the All-Serbian Easter Assembly or some Croatian assembly, the pattern of ethnic grouping irresistibly resembles politics being conducted along ethnic lines, legitimizing and providing arguments to those who see this state only through an ethnic framework.
Probably, Bosniak representatives, in that context, however unfair it may seem, do not have the luxury of agreeing to mono-national approaches, because those who do not perceive this state so much as their own and whose policies work to weaken it cannot wait for this to happen and will use this to their advantage. This was shown in the reaction of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday, who welcomed the gathering of Bosniaks. He welcomed it because he will interpret it in the future as legitimizing all the special relationships Serbia is building with Republika Srpska (RS) specifically.
The cooperation among Bosniak political representatives in the region can be useful and commendable, but the objective reach of that cooperation and policy at this moment can be at most at a certain financial and infrastructural level. The problem is that other ethnic groups will interpret it as political integration, while their actual political power is very limited in parallel.
Another detail that does not favor the announced gathering of Bosniak political representatives is the relationships among political representatives in BiH itself. The way new government in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) was formed in the spring of 2023 when the vote of the FBiH Vice President from the Bosniak constituency was suspended. Agreeing with this act has deepened the gap between opposing political blocs, and consequently among Bosniak political representatives. The only possible justification in this context is that this issue would also be on the table at the announced Bosniak gathering.
Because of the aforementioned, rejections to Konakovic’s invitation began arriving rapidly, and among the first to cancel were the leader of the SDA, Bakir Izetbegovic, and the leader of the SBiH, Semir Efendic. Izetbegovic stated, among other things, that he “does not want to have any contacts with Konakovic until very serious allegations concerning his ties with a drug cartel documented in the Sky application are resolved.”
This would make sense if Izetbegovic himself had not violated that rule in the case of Fadil Novalic or Osman Mehmedagic, whom he photographed and met with even though they were either being tried or were under investigation.
In any case, ethnic gatherings, regardless of intention, carry with them the great risk of legitimizing policies that see this state and region exclusively through ethnic eyes, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
