SERIOUSNESS OF SARAJEVO’S THREAT OF ISLAMIST BiH CONFIRMED

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 13 /SRNA/ – A statement by Sarajevo-based US lobbyist Daniel Serwer is significant as it confirms the seriousness of the Islamist threat coming from Sarajevo, which relates to the creation of an Islamist republic across the entire territory of BiH, counterterrorism expert Dževad Galijašević has told SRNA today.

"That threat was also clarified by SNSD Leader Milorad Dodik during the talks held with the officials of Israel and the United States; we now see that members of the Democratic Party in America, those lobbyists, representatives of the so-called deep state, acknowledge that there is a serious Islamist threat and that creating some kind of Islamic republic in part of the territory of BiH would be very dangerous," Galijašević said.

Galijašević pointed out that the deception lies precisely in Serwer's admission, as it shifts responsibility away from the former US administration, stressing that the plan of the Democratic administration and lobbying groups had been to prevent the creation of "some kind of Palestine in BiH," i.e. an Islamic republic in part of the territory of BiH.

According to him, the Democrats did not want the formation of an Islamic republic in part of BiH, nor did the former Muslim leader Alija Izetbegović, because, as he emphasized, "they want the entire BiH".

"If you look at the `Islamic Declaration,` you will see that Izetbegović does not speak about a small `coffee-cup state,` but about achieving numerical superiority so that Muslims can accomplish two important things. One is to dismantle the non-Islamic order, and the other is to be capable of building a new Islamic order. Therefore, Bosniak politics has never abandoned the idea of having an Islamic republic across the entire territory of BiH, not just a fragment of it," Galijašević stressed.

He recalled that former Croatian President Franjo Tuđman had offered a solution to this issue, which the Americans also accepted, the Washington Agreement, that envisaged that, in the event of the division of BiH, Muslims would enter into a confederal status with the Croatian state.

"For that very reason, radical Islamists in Sarajevo never wanted this, because the numerical dominance would, in that case, shift to the Croatian side. They want, through political measures, to drive Croats out of BiH as the weakest link, the smallest constituent people, by choosing representatives for them and denying them the right to elect their own representatives to the BiH Presidency and the Houses of Peoples, as well as certain executive bodies in BiH," Galijašević stated.

Galijašević says they demonstrate their intentions through the principle of outvoting in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, using the fact that there are more Bosniaks in the BiH parliament than Serbs and Croats combined.

He reiterated that Islamists want the entire BiH, while the administration and diplomacy to which Serwer belongs, along with the lobbying groups he represents, wanted to grant the entire BiH to Muslims at the expense of Serbs and Croats.

Galijašević also recalled daily threats by Defence Minister in the Council of Ministers Zukan Helez, who recently stated that Bosniak political structures have "more powerful friends" than Republika Srpska.

"Who are these `powerful figures` supposedly stronger than the presidents of the United States, Russia, China, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia?" Galijašević asked.

He believes that, essentially, Serwer's admission comes too late.

"It is, in fact, defensive in nature, because no one accused them of wanting to create a mini-state, given that the Washington Agreement itself provided measures and procedures for such a situation, since Bosniaks do not accept an Islamic state in part of the territory, but across the entire BiH," Galijašević said.

Former U.S. diplomat Daniel Serwer, whom Sarajevo calls a friend, likely because he advocates for a BiH without entities and cantons, explained why he opposes the creation of a third entity.

"We Americans say that we support a multiethnic BiH, but we also say that we want to avoid the formation of a reduced Islamic Bosnia that would serve as a platform for terrorism, which remains a legitimate concern. Such a Bosnia would be a threat to both Croatia and Serbia. During the war, the reason Tuđman agreed to federation and confederation with Croatia, which never came about, was that he did not want to see the formation of that reduced Islamist Bosnia," Serwer said.