On March 1 this year, Bosnia and
Herzegovina is celebrating 30 years of re-established independence. The Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to recognize it on April 17,
1992.
Unfortunately, soon after its independence,
the Serbo- Croatian conflict spilled over the border into what became a
four-year long aggression.
This attack was an attempt to divide
the country, its multicultural society and eliminate Bosniaks, not only from
the political sphere as a sovereign European nation, but also to subject them
to annihilation.
During the war, Saudi Arabia played a
key role in supporting people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially refugees
and victims of the genocide. Then US President Bill Clinton said: “The only world
leader out there really plaguing a way to get us (the US and international
community) involved was King Fahd. They were not Arabs, they did not have any
money, they did not have any power, but they were his fellow Muslims and they
were being oppressed in Europe.”
His Majesty King Salman, the governor
of Riyadh at the time, was personally involved in supporting Bosnia and
Herzegovina and its people. He headed the Saudi High Commission for the Relief
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and visited the country twice.
Saudi Arabia was pushing for a peace
agreement, and always looking for a fair and just resolution of the conflict.
Under international pressure, the
General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as
the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords, was finally reached. Having been
initiated in Dayton, Ohio, on Nov. 21, 1995, the full formal agreement was
signed by Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, and Croatian President Franjo Tudman in Paris on Dec. 14 that year.
After the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina
went through a process of reconstruction and reconciliation, which was not
always smooth and without objection, especially from those political players
who feared taking responsibility for ethnic cleansing, genocide and other
crimes they planned, committed or supported.
However, with international
commitment, and the key role in prosecuting war criminals by the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Bosnia and Herzegovina
managed to achieve remarkable success in reintegration, facing the past,
reconciliation, and economic development.
With a lot of obstruction and in a
very complex system, the country managed to build state institutions and move
from the Dayton phase to the Euro-Atlantic integrations. A land known for war
and atrocities became a favorite tourist and student destination, and started
attracting investments from all around the world.
Amid the challenges of complex
decision-making mechanisms and constitutional reforms, things have continued
forward. At one point there was a consensus on EU and even NATO membership. On
those paths, significant achievements have been made.
Even at this stage, Saudi Arabia plays
an important role, making sure that it acts in the interests of all Bosnian
citizens, not only Bosniaks, while providing financial support for
reconstruction and state building efforts. All these years, the Saudi Fund for
Development has financed various projects in Bosnia, especially in infrastructure
and housing programs for thousands of internally displaced people who remained
homeless after the war.
Unfortunately, this progress is under
threat.
Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who
currently serves as the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite inter-ethnic
presidency, and who openly advocates for the secession of the Serb-dominated
region from Bosnia, announced recently that the leadership of one of Bosnia and
Herzegovina’s entities, the Republic of
Srpska, will take measures aimed at unravelling key institutions of the state.
He is moving forward with plans to
withdraw from the army, judiciary and tax systems, which has drawn criticism
from the international community. For almost half a year representatives from
the Republic of Srpska have blocked state legislative and executive
institutions, except when in their interests, have denied the genocide at
Srebrenica, and defied the amendment made by the former high representative on
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s criminal code outlawing the public denial, condoning,
trivialisation or justification of genocide, crimes against humanity or war
crimes in a way that is “likely to incite to violence or hatred.”
With the deteriorating security
situation in Eastern Europe, especially after the Russian invasion on Ukraine,
it is time to bring international focus to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a clear
goal of preventing it from becoming object of a new struggle between the East
and the West.
The international community should
send a clear message to regional hegemons and local separatists that their destructive
agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be tolerated, and global
The horrible pictures from the war,
and all the progress that has been made since then, should serve as a warning,
but also as encouragement not to repeat mistakes from the past throughout the
region.
We are sure that Bosnia and
Herzegovina can count on Saudi Arabia’s constructive and consistent support as
we have these last 30 years, especially in light of growing economic and tourist
interests from both countries.
Three decades of re-established
independence is seen by most citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and their
friends all around the world, as an inspiration for new challenges and
opportunities to come.
• Muhamed Jusić is the ambassador of
Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
