KARAN CALLS FOR UNITY IN RESPONSE TO SO-CALLED BOSNIAK LEADERS' STATEMENT

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 19 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan has stated that the so-called statement by Bosniak leaders is anti-historical, anti-Dayton, and unitarist and that Srpska must respond institutionally with unity.

Karan pointed out that Bosniak leaders always unite when they need to act against Republika Srpska and the Serb people, and that their so-called statement highlights three key elements. "First of all, the statement about so-called hate speech, Islamophobia, and narratives against the Bosniak people is anti-historical, anti-Dayton and unitarist, representing a platform of Bosniak unitarist politics," Karan said at a joint press conference in Banja Luka with Republika Srpska officials. He pointed out that the statement is anti-historical due to the historical facts that the Serb people, throughout their history, especially in World War I, World War II and the Defensive-Homeland War, were, in the sense of the population, among the greatest victims in the world. "A genocide was committed against Serbs in World War II. The Serb people have never attacked anyone, have never been aggressors, but have always defended their own homes," Karan said. He stressed that the narrative of aggressor and victim presented in the statement is an attempt to rewrite history by those who were historically proven to have collaborated with Nazis, fascists, and the Ustashas during World War II. "The statement is anti-Dayton because it attacks the Dayton-created Republika Srpska and is directed against the other two constituent peoples. In all its elements, it is against Republika Srpska and the Serb people," Karan emphasized. According to the Republika Srpska President, the statement is predominantly unitarist. "With this statement, they want to say: this is our Bosniak state, and the other two peoples will have only what we grant them. They openly say that we should be happy to live in their BiH, that everything is Bosniak, and they deny any identity of the Serb people," Karan said. Karan stresses that Serbs are not allowed, in their view, to refer to their own history. "They want to dissolve the Serbian national identity, and in every part of the statement they suggest that we should be satisfied with being a national minority," Karan said. He warned that this is a dangerous statement that cements Bosniak unitarist policy, which he described as the only factor of instability in BiH. "This statement, in all its elements, shows intolerance toward the Serb people. Only those who accept their interpretation of history and Serbian identity will be considered `good Serbs` in BiH, while all others will have to leave," Karan pointed out. He stressed that Republika Srpska must find an institutional response in the National Assembly, but a response based on unity, as was the case with the resolution condemning the relativization of the ideology of the NDH. "This statement is a direct attack on Republika Srpska and is very dangerous for the future of BiH. I will soon gather all political leaders to provide a unified response," Karan said.