VIŠKOVIĆ: MARCH 1 EFFECTIVELY ENDED BiH

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 1 /SRNA/ – Former Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Višković has assessed for SRNA that Bosniak political actors abolished BiH by organizing the independence referendum on March 1, 1992, because they showed no understanding for the legitimate and democratic demands of the Serbs.

Višković reminded that Serb demands at the time were aimed at keeping BiH within Yugoslavia, which would most likely have avoided all the unfortunate events, deaths, and suffering on all sides. "However, Bosniak political actors chose war on that day and, in a very uncivilized and inhumane manner, killed the Serb wedding guest at Baščaršija in Sarajevo simply because he was holding a Serbian flag and celebrating his son’s marriage. Unfortunately, those messages still resonate in BiH today," Višković said, adding that this cannot be reset. He reminded that Bosniaks joined with Croats at the time and, through a referendum organized without the consent of the Serbs, declared that BiH in some way belonged to them, which is absolutely not true, while the Serbs responded with their own referendum. "We all know that more than 90 percent of Serbs stated that they did not want to leave the then Yugoslavia, that they did not want war and all the trauma that followed, when many lost family members, property, and more. Personally, March 1 reminds me only of bad things and nothing good," said Višković, also the Vice President of SNSD. In parts 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 from the SFRY was held on that date. Serbs in Republika Srpska remember March 1 for the killing of a Serb wedding guest in Sarajevo, which was also the trigger for the outbreak of war. The Republika Srpska Government declared March 1 a Day of Mourning due to the tragic events that took place on that date in 1992, which led to the outbreak of the conflict in BiH. This tragic date is not celebrated in Republika Srpska. Instead, November 21 is observed - 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.