NIKČEVIĆ: BiH'S STATEHOOD FOUNDED IN DAYTON, NOT DURING ZAVNOBiH MEETING

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 25 /SRNA/ – Historian Milan Nikčević stated that November 25, marked in part of the Federation of BiH as "BiH Statehood Day," has no foundation in the country’s modern constitutional structure, adding that BiH was created in Dayton, not at the 1943 ZAVNOBiH session.

Nikčević told SRNA that today's date is celebrated only in one part of BiH, while in Republika Srpska it is dismissed as politically imposed and historically arbitrary. He noted the paradox that ZAVNOBiH is now celebrated by political actors whose predecessors took part in the partisan movement in the smallest numbers, even though, in absolute terms, the majority of partisans were Serbs. "Those who sought the end of Yugoslavia and an independent BiH in the 1990s are now linking two completely opposing dates - November 25 and the March referendum - trying to create continuity where none exists historically," Nikčević said. Nikčević pointed out that ZAVNOBiH was part of the communist model of federalization which, by affirming the nationalism of smaller peoples, led to Serbs no longer being the majority population in BiH for the first time in 1971. "Serbs played a key role in ZAVNOBiH, but the consequences of those decisions later worked against them," Nikčević reminded. According to him, those who invoke a so-called "Yugoslav anti-fascist continuity" should also look back to December 1, 1918, when, on the wings of the Serbian army’s victory, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was created - the historical foundation of Yugoslav statehood, whose ‘birth certificate’ is in Belgrade, not in Sarajevo. He added that dates which shaped the idea of Yugoslav unity are being avoided "because they do not fit the political project being built today". Nikčević emphasized that there is a clear position in Republika Srpska: BiH was not created in 1943, but in 1995 in Dayton, and therefore holidays that are not state-level cannot be imposed. "Let them celebrate whatever they want, but they cannot impose it on everyone. BiH, whatever one may think of it, is a community of two entities and three peoples, not a state built on one interpretation of history," Nikčević said. He noted that Serbs still face political consequences of the solutions adopted by ZAVNOBiH, even though they made the greatest contribution to that process. "That historical and political game continues to backfire on us today," Nikčević said. Former ZAVNOBiH Day, November 25, is marked as the so-called statehood day in the part of the Federation of BiH with a predominantly Bosniak population, while Croats do not recognize it as a holiday.