Mustafić: The "purge" of Bosniak personnel carried out by the 2021 and 2022 government is difficult to correct

During the period of the anti-European actions of the 42nd Government, during 2021 and 2022, democratic processes were jeopardized and a "purge" of almost all personnel from the ranks of Bosniak and other minority peoples was carried out, especially in education, and these deviations are difficult to correct.

This was said by the president of the Bosniak Council in Montenegro, Suljo Mustafić, at the opening of the International Scientific Symposium "Bosnia and Herzegovina - Minority Peoples, National Minorities and Diaspora" in Tuzla.

Musafić assessed that Montenegro, despite the challenges, has preserved multiethnic stability, significantly improved constitutional and legal solutions, but that numerous rights of minority peoples are still unrealized, and that state institutions are responsible for this.

He pointed out that significant progress has been made in the integration of minority peoples in institutions and increased representation, but for members of the Bosniak people, little progress has been made in education, culture, the field of public information, and in the security sector and financial institutions.

As stated in the statement of the Bosniak Council, Mustafić, speaking about the situation in Montenegro, said that the commitment of the Bosniak and other minority peoples to multiethnic democracy and a Euro-Atlantic future is unequivocal.

"The current government, which is very heterogeneous and includes representatives of Bosniak and Albanian political entities, is making good progress in European integration and accession negotiations. However, unfortunately, it does not prioritize resolving these serious issues that are important for the visibility of minority peoples in the cultural, educational and media spheres, and we see this as a serious problem," he assessed.

The President of the Bosniak Council in Montenegro added that the areas inhabited by minority peoples are still among the most underdeveloped and assessed that until serious economic progress is made, emigration will continue.

"Society has not yet fully faced the past and the crimes from the 90s, which is why we often have narratives in which war crimes are denied or relativized. All of this further reduces trust in institutions and undermines the image of Montenegro as a country governed by the rule of law, and especially the trust of Bosniaks in the judicial and prosecutorial branches of government," he pointed out.

Mustafić also pointed out that numerous challenges are emerging in the region that require mature responses in which Bosniak councils and organizations need to build a common platform with clear goals.

"We have no right to forget, nor to new misconceptions and illusions. Some of the issues that have been reopened most directly concern the rights and position, and even the survival, of Bosniaks. We must clearly resist destructive and retrograde phenomena. Our common interest is the prosperity of the countries in which we live, as well as stability, connectivity and cooperation in the region, and therefore democratic and pro-European forces should be strongly supported," Mustafić said.

The symposium was organized by the Faculty of Law in Tuzla, with the support of Bosniak councils and other organizations from Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia, and, as stated in the statement, it brought together more than thirty university professors, academics and researchers from the region.