CELEBRATING NOVEMBER 25 HAS NO LEGAL FOUNDATION

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 25 /SRNA/ – There is no law establishing November 25 as a holiday in BiH, and its marking is being used to create a Bosniak national holiday, SNSD delegate in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Mladen Ilić told SRNA.

"We know very well that for something to be considered a holiday, there must be a legal framework regulating it. They want to persist in their political battles," Ilić said. He pointed out the clear distinction between Republika Srpska, which celebrates the end of the war in BiH and 21 November as the day of the Dayton Agreement, and Bosniaks in BiH, who observe 1 March – a date associated with the start of the war and the holding of an illegal referendum in 1992 on secession from the former SFRJ. "Through political processes, we demonstrate respect for the Dayton Peace Accords, while the Bosniak side, which objectively should be most satisfied with the agreement, degrades it to the fullest extent," Ilić noted. He expressed skepticism regarding any potential agreement on holidays in BiH. "I think such an agreement would require a kind of historical reconciliation concerning events that took place in previous decades," Ilić concluded. Formerly known as ZAVNOBiH Day, 25 November is observed as the so-called Statehood Day in parts of the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ with a Bosniak majority, while Croats do not recognize it as a holiday. In the Bosniak-majority part of the FBiH, 1 March is marked as the so-called Independence Day of BiH, as an illegal referendum on the country’s independence and secession from the SFRJ was held against the will of the Serb people in 1992. This date is not observed in Republika Srpska, as it symbolizes the overruling and marginalization of the Serb people, and is also remembered as the day in 1992 when Serbian newlywed Nikola Gardović was killed in Sarajevo's Baščaršija. At the state level, there is no law on holidays, leaving the entities to apply their respective laws on public holidays. Republika Srpska celebrates 9 January as Republic Day and November 21 as the Day of Establishing the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH.