TUŠEVLJAK: SERBS WILL NEVER ACCEPT MARCH 1 AS HOLIDAY

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 26 /SRNA/ - For Serbs, March 1 symbolizes outvoting and the beginning of the war in BiH, and they will never accept it as a holiday, the vice-president of the Veterans' Organization of Istočno Novo Sarajevo, Dragiša Tuševljak, told SRNA.

"At the entity level, we recognize only November 21 as a possible date for a state holiday for the country composed of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH. For us, Serbs and veterans, only November 21 is acceptable, as it brought peace in Dayton. All other dates must be agreed upon at the level of BiH,” Tuševljak said.

He reminded that the referendum on independence of BiH was held on March 1, 1992, and that Bosniaks and Croats took part in it and voted for secession from Yugoslavia, while Serbs boycotted the referendum and participated only in very small numbers.

He added that on the same day a Serbian wedding guest was killed, which, he said, served as the trigger for the war that lasted three and a half years.

Tuševljak noted that Republika Srpska was established on January 9, 1992, and that it adopted its Constitution on February 28 of the same year, emphasizing that March 1 does not represent a significant date for the Serb people.

In the part of the Federation of BiH with a Bosniak majority, March 1 is marked as the so-called Independence Day of BiH, as an illegal referendum on independence and secession of BiH from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was held on that date 32 years ago. Serbs in Republika Srpska remember March 1 for the killing of a Serbian wedding guest in Sarajevo, which served as the trigger for the outbreak of the war.

This tragic date is not observed as a holiday in Republika Srpska; instead, November 21 is commemorated, the day when the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH was initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, marking the end of the civil war in BiH.