The Bosnian Advocacy Center strongly condemns the latest anti-BiH and anti-Dayton Agreement actions by RS officials supported by Serbia.
In order to avoid a serious international crisis, our key allies, who have an official mandate to protect the peace, must react clearly, unequivocally, and decisively.
The latest statement issued by the ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, in which “all sides” and “all leaders” are called to abandon their anti-Bosnian actions, is inadequate and inappropriate to the conditions on the ground.
Such generic diplomatic communiques do not acknowledge or recognize the heightened level of risk as a result of the current situation. In this critical moment, it is imperative upon the international community to remember the lessons from the 1990s when, during an ongoing campaign of genocide by Serb forces, key international actors issued calls to “all sides” and “all leaders” to stop the violence. This failed diplomatic approach resulted in over 100.000 perished, and over 1.1 million refugees.
We urge our friends and allies to strongly counter the destabilizing forces in the entity Republika Srpska which continues to be responsible for the most dangerous crisis since 1995.
The international community must recognize the seriousness of the moment at hand and strongly sanction any person or actor that hints at the possibility of violence. A collapse of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a security threat not only for the Western Balkans and Europe, but on the greater world stage. Any form of violence will inevitably trigger a spillover effect in the broader region. Furthermore, the latest crisis in Afghanistan has clearly illustrated that Europe, the United States, and the world cannot afford another refugee crisis.
We cannot afford to ignore the blaring sound of alarm from the Western Balkans. This is a call to immediate action, without delay, for it will be too late when armed men and tanks appear on the streets.
The Bosnian Advocacy Center supports the joint efforts of the Bosniak, Montenegrin and Albanian diaspora communities in the United States in warning against the extremely dangerous rhetoric and behavior from Vučić’s and Dodik’s regimes.