Bosnia and Herzegovina Celebrates Statehood Day
November 25
Statehood Day is a public holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Statehood Day is celebrated on November 25 in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, commemorating the day in 1943 that Bosnia and Herzegovina was re-established by the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia.
History of Statehood Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina
During the Axis occupation of World War II, Yugoslavia was divided between Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and Hungary. This division created the Independent State of Croatia, the Independent State of Montenegro, the Albanian Kingdom, and Nedic Serbia. The opposition to this occupation and division was mainly led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which found support from all sides of the country, representing then a single Yugoslavian identity.
In November 1942, the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia was called into session by Josip Broz Tito. In January 1943, Germany attempted to destroy the central command and primary hospital of the partisan movement. Despite the loss in lives and material, the central command remained intact, and the hospital was kept safe.
Between November 21 and November 29 in 1943, a second conference was held in the Bosnian town of Jajce. A decision was made to create a federal Yugoslavia based on the right of self-determination of nation in which the southern Slavic people—Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, and Macedonians—would live in six constituent republics with equal rights. This marked the historical beginning and foundation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
http://www.davidchandler.org/chapters/book_chapters.html
The Serbs deny the historical importance of this event, instead choosing to celebrate 21 November, the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, when the Serbian entity, Republika Srpska, was established.
Communist Party activist and later People’s Hero of Yugoslavia Rada Vranješević speaking at ZAVNOBiH (Wikimedia Commons)
The leaders of Republika Srpska, who advocate the commemoration of 21 November, are not in favour of a united BiH, and they see 25 November as a symbol of state unity that undermines their vision of the state.
On the occasion of 25 November 2008, Milorad Dodik, prime minister of Republika Srpska, stated: “The celebration of 25 November is an artificial imposing of a story of an alleged continuity of statehood, which did not exist.”
On the other side, the Croat Željko Komšić, one of the three members of the State Presidency, stated in 2008, arguing against the Serbs: “The date of signing the Dayton Peace Agreement I consider an important date in the recent history of Bosnia, which should be celebrated in a dignified manner, but 25 November, the date of celebration of ZAVNOBiH, and the decisions reached there, I personally find sacrosanct, inviolable, and the sole National Day of Bosnia.”
Proposed a common law
In January 2009, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Civil Affairs proposed a common law on holidays that would abolish commemmorative days specific to either the Federation or Republika Srpska.
None of the proposed holidays (New Year, May Day, Anti-Fascist Day, International Day Against Violence) would have any connection to specific national affairs within Bosnia.
This proposal, however, met resistance from Bosniak parliamentarians. On 17 July 2009, the Council of Ministers nevertheless made their final decision: Bosnia and Herzegovina shall have only the “international” holidays proposed earlier.
No national day in the real sense was included in their proposal. This decision was again met with criticism from the Bosniaks, since “their” dates were not included either. This proposal has yet to be discussed in Parliament, and it is not likely to be adopted.
So, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still a country without a national day, or, more precisely, with several competing ones.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Statehood Day Traditions, Customs & Activities
Even though Statehood Day is a nationwide public holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the celebrations are only held in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Republika Srpska prefers to observe the holiday on November 21.
The country has been shattered and living with painful memories since 1992, a time when the ultra-nationalist Bosnian Serbs started a civil war between Muslim Slavs, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats. The Dayton Accord brought peace to the region, but the country is controlled by a president and two co-presidents, making it difficult to agree on a certain day of celebration for the country’s National Day. Despite politics, Statehood Day is still celebrated on November 25 as a sort of National Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Overview: Bosnia
In 1991, Yugoslavia’s republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Bosnia) had a population of 4 million, composed of three main ethnic groups: Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim, 44%), Serb (31%), and Croat (17%), as well as Yugoslav (8%).During the conflict (1992-95), an estimated 100,000 people were killed; 80% of the civilians killed were Bosniaks. In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces killed as many as 8,000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica. It was the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust.
On April 5, 1992, the government of Bosnia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. Immediately, Bosnian Serb leaders launched a war to create a separate state. They targeted Bosniak and Croatian civilians in areas under their control, in what has become known as “ethnic cleansing.”
Current Situation
October 2010
More of the Same in Bosnia?
On October 3rd, Bosnian citizens voted in a bewildering array of elections at the federal and entity level (Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation) that reflected the nation’s troubling, deep divisions. Voters from the Bosniak-Croat Federation largely turned to moderate politicians, while Bosnian Serbs re-elected their nationalist party, which continues to call openly for secession.
Next month marks the 15th anniversary of the end of the Bosnian war, and the nation remains trapped by its convoluted and unwieldy government and the hyper-nationalist politicians in Republika Srpska (RS), who actively work towards the dissolution of the nation. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, former RS prime minister and its newly elected president, Milorad Dodik shared “his opinion that in 15 years the state of Bosnia-Hercegovina will no longer exist.”Dysfunction, corruption, and patronage run deeply through the administration of both of Bosnia’s entities. A new report from the International Crisis Group (ICG) describes the Bosniak-Croat Federation as “a dense bureaucracy, whose various parts function in competition or open conflict with one another, and a suffocating thicket of confusing and often contradictory legislation and regulation.
Federation administrative bloat and disorder make Bosnia’s larger entity one of Europe’s worst places to do business and choke its people’s economic potential.” Bosnia, which hopes for EU membership, faces an economic crisis with 40% unemployment and stagnant growth.But alongside the gloomy assessment, the G report shares a piece of good news:
A March 2010 survey found that while Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks do not share a common vision of the state’s future constitutional arrangement, they also do not object to close relationships with each other and that, “primarily different political interests, rather than ethnic hatred, lie behind differences in visions of a common state.” Reported ethnic incidents remain relatively scarce, though they increased in 2008 and 2009.
15 Year History of Bosnia: http://article.wn.com/view/2010/07/11/Fifteen_years_on_Srebrenica_buries_more_victims_i/
A Celebration of Women
sends our blessings
to all the Women of our World in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Celebrate Your Statehood!
