DEĐANSKI: SOC - BOSNIAKS AND CROATS’ TARGET FOR BEING MAIN FACTOR GATERING SERB PEOPLE

BELGRADE, JANUARY 11 /SRNA/ – Political analyst Stevica Deđanski assesses that the current launching of ideas about establishing a Bosnian and a Croatian Orthodox Church, along with the seizure of the property and heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/, represents an attack on peace, stressing that the SOC was chosen as a target as it is the main factor gathering the Serb people.

Deđanski pointed out that behind these intentions lies the undermining of peace, because those who put forward such ideas can function only in wartime conditions, expecting the enemies of the Serb people to stand behind them. According to him, this represents an attempt to provoke the Serbs and push them into conflict with Bosniaks and Croats. "Their problem is that we do not allow ourselves to be drawn into their story, so they could exploit it and present themselves as supposedly innocent while portraying us Serbs as guilty," Deđanski told SRNA, commenting on the former head of the Islamic Community in BiH, Mustafa Cerić, advocating the formation of a Bosnian Orthodox Church and the activities of members of the Homeland Movement in Croatia aimed at restoring the Croatian Orthodox Church, which operated in the Ustasha NDH. He believes that good, measured, and nationally responsible policy gives Serbs the strength to show the rest of the world that they are not the problem, unlike in the 1990s, when they failed to do so. "Now we are succeeding. We are the only ones defending the Dayton, calling for peace and respect for the Constitution, just as we respect all religions and speak with respect about Bosniaks and Muslims," Deđanski stated. According to him, the other side views things in such a way that it is simply impossible for them to do anything without provoking a conflict. "That is why we must not allow this, but only insist on what exists on paper. That is the Dayton Peaxe Agreement, and we have it and are the only ones defending it - not because it is the best, but because it is a valid document of international law," Deđanski said. He assesses it will be the only realistic document once the global situation calms down in a few years. "Because of that, we must not enter into conflict, although they will try. They will not give up, because otherwise they can achieve nothing. What can they offer their citizens? Nothing but hatred toward Serbia and the Serbs. We must play smart. For now, we are doing that very well, and I hope we will not give up," Deđanski said. He emphasized that the SOC was not chosen as a target by chance, but because it is the main factor gathering the Serb people. "That is why attacks on it are always launched. This is not happening only now; the Croats were the first to start with this, evoking ideas from the time of the Ustaha dominance, followed by Montenegrin communists led by Milo Đukanović. Something that connects the Serb people bothers them; it is now happening in BiH as well," Deđanski said. He points out that the pattern is always the same, only the moment is chosen when the campaign will be launched. "I assume that they now think Serbia is weaker due to the attempted `colour revolution,` in which they were mistaken, just as in the case of Republika Srpska, which they thought due to the attacks on Milorad Dodik," Deđanski assessed. According to him, everyone who launches such ideas and campaigns against the SOC and the Serbs regularly overlooks a very important fact, which is the stance of the Serbian people in general. "Serbs, even when they do not like each other, always unite when national issues are at stake, especially when someone attacks the SOC," Deđanski emphasized. He says that the promoters of entities such as the Bosnian Orthodox Church and the Croatian Orthodox Church, and the assaults on the SOC, exude hatred and a desire to break the unity of the Serb people, which will not happen. Deđanski believes that these ideas are being launched now due to continued pressure on Republika Srpska, but also because of the military coalition being formed by Zagreb, Tirana, and Priština, which Montenegro, and perhaps Bulgaria, may at some point try to join. "It is not enough for them that we have suffered, because their goal is for us to disappear as a people. The first thing they would like is for Republika Srpska to disappear as a creation of the victory of the Serb people in the unjust wars of the 1990s. This will continue, and at this moment they have intensified the campaign. If we manage to resist, and I am sure we will, they will give up on it as well, and then we will experience it again at some point in the future," Deđanski said.