Please take a stand for the reunification of Bosnia

Milorad Dodik expected in Berlin for talks

Please take a stand for the reunification of Bosnia

Today you will be meeting Milorad Dodik, "President" of the Bosnian Republika Srpska, along with other Bosnian politicians, for talks.

Bosnia is now de facto a divided country, just as Vietnam and Germany once were, and Korea still is today. The incumbent Bosnian foreign minister, Sven Alkalaj, who is Jewish, recently said that the ethnic division in his country is starker than ever.

The Republika Srpska was created in the wake of ethnic cleansing, which included mass murders, mass rape, mass displacement of 60% of the population, and the destruction of virtually all mosques and Catholic churches.

In 1995 the Dayton Agreement anchored the results of the displacement of the entire non-Serbian population from northern and eastern Bosnia by recognizing the Republika Srpska. Annex 7 of this agreement theoretically provided for the return of the displaced half of the population, but no serious efforts have been made to carry out the stipulations in the agreement.

Just 6 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and 5 years after the reunification of the country, the Federal Republic of Germany – as a signatory to the Dayton Agreement – has taken part in the inhumane division of another European country. German governments have done nothing meaningful since then to reverse this intolerable situation and reinstate the coexistence of all Bosnian ethnic and religious communities in a united country. This is all the more difficult to understand when one recalls that millions of Germans were themselves displaced and forced to flee 65 years ago.

German interior ministers from 1996 to the present have chased tens of thousands of Bosnian refugees out of Germany, even though fully aware that the refugees could not return to their homeland. Thus these people, for the most part traumatized children, women and men, were cast out a second time, and forced to seek asylum in far-off countries like Australia, Canada or the US.

Bosnians of all nationalities are joined by a common language and history, as well as through hundreds of thousands of familial relationships. Foreigners living in Bosnia report that the desire for reconciliation is growing, especially among the youth of all nationalities.

Dear Chancellor Merkel, when you receive the "head" of "Republika Srpska" on Friday, you will be welcoming a person who neither acknowledges the genocide committed by Serbian and Yugoslavian militias and troops, nor accepts the charges and the convictions of the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Furthermore, Dodik constantly threatens the secession of his part of the country.

We urge you, Madam Chancellor, to do all you can - both on your own and together with Germany's partners in NATO and in the EU - to work towards the reinstatement of a unified Bosnia, the enactment of a constitution to this end that is binding on the entire country, and the establishment of Bosnia-wide institutions. Bosnians in all communities are yearning for a situation that will permit them to live and work with security and dignity in all parts of their country. A unified Bosnia should then be welcomed into all European institutions, including the EU and the NATO alliance.

Yours sincerely,

Tilman Zülch

President of STP International

Quotations of Milorad Dodik:

"We see no benefit in continuing to be a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina." - 24 July 2010 

"I am certain that the day will come when Serbs can vote on their future in a referendum. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a nightmare for the Republika Srpska and, like all nightmares, will last as long as necessary." - 25 July 2010

"I am convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina has no future. It can be held together through violence ... But this cannot go on forever. Bosnia and Herzegovina does not bring long-term stability to the region. A different solution [referring to Republika Srpska's secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina and integration in Serbia] could very well achieve this, I believe." - 27 July 2010

"Bosnia and Herzegovina exists only due to corrupt officials in the international community, who are raking in enormous salaries for causing others to suffer - even though they, too, must be aware that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a functioning nation." - 22 July 2010

"We love the Republika Srpska. We are only in Bosnia and Herzegovina because we have to be. Nobody needs this Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it should be disbanded." - 5 September 2010

"There was no genocide here [in Srebrenica] and we will not accept this claim. There were more Bosniaks who left Srebrenica back then and went to Tuzla and Sarajevo than there were killed in Srebrenica. Thus it was not genocide. The Bosniaks are a people with a troubled history; they are an honest people, but have always been bad to us Serbs whenever they had bad political alternatives. We want to do something about this, and announce here and now in Srebrenica: Turn towards the Republika Srpska and forget about Sarajevo!" - 10.09.2010

"Today the Republika Srpska is no longer in question; it is a solid entity. Only Bosnia and Herzegovina can be called into question today." - 12 September 2010

"The Republika Srpska will exist forever - Bosnia and Herzegovina, by contrast, only as long as necessary." - 14 September 2010

"Sarajevo is not my capital; I do not recognize it. For me - in addition to Banja Luka - Belgrade is the capital." - 25 September 2010

"Our national interest is clear: it is called Republika Srpska and Banja Luka is its capital, while Belgrade is the national capital." - 28 September 2010