The Association of Independent Intellectuals "Circle 99" from Sarajevo sent a letter to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Subcommittee on Europe of the US Congress on the occasion of the upcoming hearing on "The US Engagement in the Balkans" in which they expressed gratitude to the incumbent US administration for its long-standing support for B&H, but also concerns over the statements of some State Department envoys.

Options for reforming election legislation

They say that during the visit to Sarajevo, options for reforming the election legislation have been presented, which are not possible and which, if implemented, would in fact strengthen the role of ethno-nationalist political forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as further divisions and collapse of the state.

- These are the same forces that, with the collaboration of the politicians from the two neighboring countries, threatened to divide the country in the 1990s, and which are now re-strengthening their influence. This would jeopardize the security not only of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also in Southeast Europe and the wider Euro-Atlantic community.

Advocating for a compromise to the detriment of democratic standards according to the Russian/Soviet model of constituency (one country, two entities, three peoples) is a sure way only to a dysfunctional state, discrimination of citizens, destruction of multiethnic society and strengthening separatism of the entity of Republic of Srpska, the SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and others. -

The Dayton Accords was excellent in stopping the war

They add that it seems as if the US envoys in B&H are making compromises with the leaders of ethno-nationalist movements and their political parties as if they are the only representatives of the Bosnian people as if they are parties with which to find lasting democratic solutions instead of a wider community and all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- By acting in such a way, they seem to persist with part of the legacy of the Dayton Accords. The Dayton Accords was excellent in stopping the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it also established a post-conflict government structure that is dysfunctional, costly and completely inconsistent with the best practices of the Euro-Atlantic democratic model, thus blocking B&H's path to the EU and NATO. -

The Circle 99 points out that the creators of the Dayton Peace Agreement negotiated with the political wing of paramilitary formations that falsely presented themselves as the only legitimate representatives of their peoples: Serbs and Croats, and that they degraded the negotiating status of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to that of a religious group - the Muslims.

Ethnic identification

They believe that the majority of the population has been disenfranchised in this manner and these are the Jews, Roma, other minorities, and all those who are not members of these three peoples, people of mixed background and people who simply declare themselves politically as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is an inalienable right of every citizen.

- We do not understand the obsession of your envoys with ethnic identification as the basis for the establishment of governing structures. This is an outdated way of thinking, if not an utterly wrong way of thinking. We fear that this will lead to unattainable and negative conclusions and policies. American negotiators accepted and cemented the temporary disruption of the 1990s war as a permanent solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the postwar period.

Your current envoys are making this rigidity permanent to the detriment of the sustainability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and endangering the security of the entire region and the wider community. We are convinced that maintaining a certain type of apartheid towards the development of the political system of B&H, towards the citizens, civic and secular character of the state and society, cannot be a real expression of the values ​​of liberal democracy, human, civil and political rights and freedoms, or the interests of Western democratic nations - it is stated in the letter.