The statements of Croatian lobbyist Max Primorac at the hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs confirm that the growth of Christian extremism is conducive to the spread of Islamophobia and the creation of a narrative in which Bosniaks are presented as an undesirable factor in Europe. Primorac described Bosnia as a “failed state” and made claims of discrimination against Croats and the need to create a third entity and abolish the Office of the High Representative.

Such statements, which are unfounded and do not correspond to the truth, simplify the complex political and social situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and can further deepen ethnic divisions. The rise of right-wing narratives in Europe and rhetoric that legitimizes Islamophobia as a means of achieving a third entity are dangerous for relations within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such claims, packaged in political rhetoric and ethnic generalizations, not only misrepresent the complexity of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also further fuel divisions, deny the principles of unity and multiethnic coexistence, and can contribute to the destabilization of the political and social climate. As a reminder, Bosnia and Herzegovina inherits a thousand-year-old state heritage, where it built its path as a Banovina, a Kingdom, an integral part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary, an equal republic within Yugoslavia, and ultimately today again as an independent state in which all its citizens have equality, regardless of national or religious affiliation.

Proof of this is the moral and ethical attitude of Bosniak Muslims, who are subject to segregation and dehumanization by extremists such as Primorac. Namely, in Sarajevo, which is often the subject of “questioning”, there are busts of Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, Christian buildings were not desecrated and demolished during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Serbian and Croatian military and paramilitary formations destroyed hundreds of mosques and other religious buildings.

Primorac, Zovko, and other extremists who are trying to impute radicalism to the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while perpetuating the unfounded thesis that Croats are endangered, do not mean well for Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor for the Croats in it, because they are trying to transform them from a political factor into an endangered minority, which does not correspond to the factual situation.

Stability in the region cannot be achieved through unilateral solutions or ethnically motivated divisions, but through the cooperation of all communities and international partners.

We hail all relevant domestic and international actors to reject attempts to instrumentalize ethnic tensions and not to accept narratives that legitimize separatism, discrimination and prejudice. Instead, it is necessary to renew dialogue, maintain institutional cohesion and work on strengthening Bosnia and Herzegovina's Euro-Atlantic path, which will benefit all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Center for Geopolitical Research – GEOPOL calls on irresponsible individuals to stop working on creating interethnic and interreligious tensions, which aim to create pressure on Bosniaks, due to the fact that they are a political factor, without which more important decisions cannot be made in the end!