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International scientific conference PEOPLE, NATIONS AND RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Book of abstracts

THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF A PERMANENT RESOLUTION OF THE BALKAN CONFRONTATIONS

Nenad Čanak

The essence of the impossibility of a permanent solution to the Balkan confrontations lies (except in the foreign factor) in the permanent manipulation of parts of the identity of individual national groups to maintain constant tension in society. That tension is an instrument for concealing contemporary social trends, which are mainly reduced to a feeling of overall identity (and physical) threat and maintenance in a politically and materially privileged position of those who cause the aforementioned tensions. The combination of strengthening the paracultural milieu, which discourages analytical thinking and compresses national identity into its hypertrophied marginalium, and the dedicated multimedia production of a mediocre pseudo-elite whose sole purpose is to apologize for the regime’s dominant political message, leads to the impossibility of a massive step forward into a more objective view of current reality. With the additional calculated manipulation of homonyms and synonyms in the daily political narrative, a suitable ground is obtained for the deepest value confusion in which almost complete societies can overnight be pushed into mutual dehumanization until extermination. I see the dissolution of the above mechanisms through a critical intellectual approach as the only way (with persistent education of the population) for a successful fight against the situation of “lightning speed of standing still” that marks (at least) the last four decades in the Western Balkans.

BOSNIAN IDENTITY THROUGH THE PRISM OF TWO CONCEPTS OF A NATION

Academician prof. Ph.D. Suad Kurtćehajić

The concept of nation is not unique, otherwise, we would not have problems with this social category. Although there are several views on this social phenomenon, two concepts of the nation have crystallized as prevailing in today’s world. One is the French concept of the nation, which distinguishes between
the people and the nation, and according to which the nation is tied to belonging to the state and according to which all citizens of a state are considered members of the same nation, while the nation is
a community of people who have the same customs, traditions, culture, and sense of common belonging.
That concept is dominant in the world today. The second is the concept of ethnonational, which is of Germanic origin, but today more is said about the eastern concept of the nation, according to which the
people and the nation are the same, i.e. synonyms. The space of the former Yugoslavia lived according to that concept in which the people and the nation are on the same terms and ex-Yugoslavia had six peoples or nations. With the breakup of Yugoslavia, everything remained the same in terms of the people and the nation, except that six new states were created and Bosnian Muslims replaced their identity with the name Bosniak at the Bosniak Assembly on September 28, 1993. Today, the view is developing that it was much more useful for Bosnian Muslims to abandon the concept of tying religion to ethnic and national identity and to adopt the name Bosnian, which does not have a primary religious dimension, even though it is multi-confessional and belongs to all believers as well as atheists. In recent times, the polemic about Bosnia has flared up and some, starting from the French concept of the nation, advocate that Bosnians are already a nation and that all its citizens from it by the very admission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN, and that there is no need to affirm ethnic Bosnia, others believe that in BiH as well as in the countries of former Yugoslavia, the ethnonational concept was applied, according to which Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats and other peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina are simultaneously peoples and nations, and that instead of unsuccessful attempts to apply the French concept here and develop the story of a phantom Bosnia of all citizens of BiH, which in reality does not exist, because that concept requires a certain consensus of the citizens and people of a state that does not exist in Bosnia, it is necessary to affirm the Bosnian identity both as ethnic and as national from real Bosnians, that is, from those who feel this way and who are ready to to the future census to express their will in that direction.

BOSNIANS AS A NATION, NOT AN ETHNIC GROUP

Danijal Hadžović

The idea of the Bosnian nation initially faces the problem of defining the term nation. Even in the theory
of social sciences itself, there is no single and generally accepted definition. In today’s usage, “nation” is most often used as a synonym for a state (polity) or sovereign state: a government that controls a certain territory, which may or may not be associated with any particular ethnic group. The name of the United Nations Organization, as an umbrella institution that gathers the sovereign states of the world, was derived from this position. However, some theoreticians attribute to the nation not state, but ethnic characteristics. British sociologist Anthony D. Smith is among them, for example, who defines a nation as a cultural-political community that was created aware of its autonomy, unity, and particular interests. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, in everyday use, the nation is most often treated as a synonym for an ethnic group, which was vividly expressed in the 2013 population census, where the declaration column read “ethnic/national affiliation”, so Serbian, Croatian and the Bosniak nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But to make the paradox even greater, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats are defined as peoples, not nations. To build the Bosnian nation, it is first necessary for the academic sphere, everyday speech, and media coverage to start preferring the notion of the nation as belonging to the state and separating it from ethnic affiliation. The Bosnian nation is hardly possible in the ethnic sense, in such a way that it replaces what Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks are today. Serbian and Croatian national identities in BiH have been solidly built and institutionalized through processes that have lasted for the last 150 years, and there is no real chance that they will be replaced by a Bosnian identity in the foreseeable future, which would be both ethnic and national for them. Although the Bosniaks in the project of building their own national identity have historically trotted for the other two peoples, the decisions of the Bosniak Parliament from 1993 on the return of the name Bosniak, which was then incorporated into the Constitution of BiH itself in 1995, missed the opportunity for them, like the Montenegrins for example, to have their ethnic identity equal to the state name and thus directly tie themselves to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (whereby the number of inhabitants whose national name is identical to the state/national name would amount to more than 50% today). Therefore, the space that remains for the construction of the Bosnian nation is the space of the state nation: the common identity of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of their ethnic, religious, religious, or racial affiliation. To this end, it is necessary to insist on belonging to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the name Bosnian as a common name for all its citizens and to work on the promotion of common symbols, values, cultural characteristics, and historical experiences that contribute to the construction and establishment of an overarching Bosnian identity.

HISTORICAL MEMORY IN THE SHAPING OF ETHNIC IDENTITY

Mr. Mirsad Tokača

If identity is an essential issue, among other things, the feeling of belonging to a certain community, then the role of memory must be closely examined in shaping that identity. This is especially important when memory and our relationship to the past are linked to a specific historical period. Therefore, focusing on the recent past, especially in the period 92-95, I want to highlight the importance of those historical events in the reaffirmation and strengthening of the ethnic/national identity of Bosniaks. Bearing in mind that Bosniaks live with other ethnic/national groups within the framework of an independent and internationally recognized state, it seems interesting to shed light on the position of Bosniaks, as the majority nation, in the construction of a unique national identity, together with other peoples, thus creating the conditions for the creation of a Bosnian national identity based on our common belonging to the same state and all other cultural and historical elements that are common to every resident/citizen of the Bosnian state. Of course, it is important to put all this in the context of the given circumstances of the constitutional and legal arrangement, but also the desired and set goals that should be calmly created and precisely planned. In this context, it is particularly important to untangle the theoretical knots of using and understanding the concepts of ethnic and national belonging/identity and the importance of their correct understanding and interpretation, in order not to create confusion and confrontations, and to deepen the already existing theoretical misunderstandings of the construction of the nation-state in multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural communities.

HOW TO DEFINE ETHNIC GROUP AND THE NATION?

Prof. dr. Zlatko Hadžidedić

The term “nation” in our language, like the term “people” in the English language, is ambiguous and can denote two mutually opposing concepts – on the one hand, ethnic identity, and the other hand, the civil form of social homogeneity, as understood by Locke and Rousseau. Therefore, for the sake of precision, we must stick to the term “ethnic group”. But how should we define the content of this term? And how should we define the content of the term “nation”? To begin with, here we offer two shortest, but also the most comprehensive, definitions:
1. An ethnic group is formed by a myth of common descent.
2. A nation is formed by a myth of the right to sovereignty.
In both cases, as can be seen, the keyword is “myth”. This word implies that both social formations are united and held together by belief and consciousness, which do not have to correspond to any historical facts. In one case, the belief in a common descent arises in a historical process and is transmitted through common symbols and rituals, which over time form a common culture. In the second case, the belief in the right to one’s nation-state is articulated as an act of organized political forces, and as a political process, it is transmitted primarily through an organized system of education so that every group that develops this belief eventually becomes a nation. In practice, a group that possesses an articulated myth of common descent can also articulate a myth of the right to sovereignty, so that in this way it evolves from an ethnic group into a nation. Conversely, a group that has articulated a myth of the right to sovereignty, and which is on the way to creating or has already created its nation-state, may in time also articulate a myth of its common descent, thus developing an identity reminiscent of the ethnic one. However, in practice, it is also possible that a group gathered around a myth of common descent never articulates a myth of its right to sovereignty and its state, and thus permanently remains an ethnic group, without evolving into a nation. Also, it is possible for a group to articulate a myth of the right to sovereignty, but never acquire a state of its own. Such is the example of the Kurds, who can be called a nation because of their developed myth of the right to sovereignty. It is also possible that a group that articulated a myth of the right to sovereignty and formed its nation-state remains without an articulated myth of common descent. Such is the case of nations such as the Americans, Canadians, Australians, but also the Swiss. All the divisions between “Western” and “Eastern” nations, which date from Hans Kohn to the present day, become completely redundant when the definitions are set in this way. Also, it should be emphasized that in the modern age, characterized by the capitalist system, the nation-state becomes the exclusive, the only legitimate form of the state2

From all of the above, it follows that the very name “nation” implicitly recognizes the designated group’s right to sovereignty and its state. Conversely, the very name “ethnic group” implicitly denies the right to sovereignty and its state to the designated group. Precisely because of this right, implicitly recognized or implicitly unrecognized, in the political life of many countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is insisted that a group that wants to be given the right to its state be called a nation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, so far this has been the case with Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks, who were thus implicitly recognized the right to sovereignty and the creation of their nation-states (and eventual unification with Serbia and Croatia), with the dissolution of the existing state, Bosnia. and Herzegovina. At the same time, by insisting on the ‘impossibility’ of the Bosnian nation, present in everyday political discourse, all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who do not want its ethnic partition and who consider themselves Bosnians, are implicitly denied the right to sovereignty and the right to exist within the single state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This insistence on the nomination of certain ethnoreligious identities as “nations” represents a completely elaborate political program, aimed at denying the right to a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Bosnian nation, and creating assumptions for the dissolution of the existing state along ethnoreligious lines.

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2 I wrote more about nation-states as the only way of political existence within the capitalist
system in the book Nations and Capital: The Missing Link in Global Expansion (London-New York:
Routledge 2022).

IDENTITY OF THE BOSNIAN PEOPLE

Nedžla Kurtćehajić

Throughout the thousand-year history, several names have been used to indicate belonging to the Bosnian people. In the Middle Ages, the dominant name for the Bosnian people was Bosniaks. In the Ottoman period, the Ottomans called us Bosnevi and Bosnali, which in Arabic and Ottoman-Turkish means Bosnian or a resident of Bosnia. The Hungarians and some other peoples called us Bosniaks, which in their languages also meant Bosnians or inhabitants of Bosnia. The name Bosniak came into our internal use on the territory of Bosnia in a more serious capacity in the 19th century. Since Matica Srpska labeled us Bosniaks as early as 1825, and Ilija Garašanin in Načertani in 1844, it created the impression that we were all Bosniaks at that time. Despite this, the Bosnian identity was not developed at all among the Bosnian Orthodox, among the Bosnian Catholics, it was present among the Franciscans and those who came into contact with them, among the Bosnian Muslims, this identity was mixed with the Ottoman and Muslim identities, which were more pronounced. Kalaj’s attempt as the joint minister of finance in Austria-Hungary to create an integral Bosnia (Bosniakism) did not succeed because, with the arrival of their missionaries Bogoljub Petranović and Klement Božić in Sarajevo in 1862, the process of their Serbization and Croatization began with the Bosnian Orthodox and Catholics, so it was delayed. On the other hand, Bosnian Muslims were also not imbued with Bosniak identity to a sufficient extent because they mixed Ottoman and Muslim identities. After the conversation of the champion of the Bosnian Muslims with Kalaj in 1903, in which they expressed complete disinterest in ethnic and national identity while they were only interested in religious and cultural identity, Austria-Hungary abolished the newspaper “Bošnjak” in 1906 and forbade the use of that name, and the following year, in 1907, he also abolished the Bosnian language. In this way, Bosnian Muslims were reduced to a religious group, which continued later in the Kingdom of SHS from 1918 and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929, as well as in AVNOJ Yugoslavia from its creation in 1943. established the sixth nation as Muslims with a capital “M”. At the Bosniak Parliament on September 28, 1993, a Decision was made to rename Muslims to Bosniaks, both in the ethnic and national sense. There are views that the final development of the Bosnian people should be completed with the affirmation of Bosnia and Bosnians as a modern and natural name for belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AS A CONDITION FOR COEXISTENCE WITH OTHERS (ISLAMIC ASPECT)

Academician prof. Ph.D. sc. Halil Mehtic

If we look back at the concept of the Islamic arrangement of interpersonal relations, we will see that Islam, as the last cosmopolitan religion, especially apostrophized the importance of human dignity and honor, which arose from man’s relationship to God, and not from some of his accidental characteristics such as race, wealth or social position. Therefore, people who have a common origin have the same rights, and in this world, they are equal, regardless of race, nationality, religion, or class differences. The social life of the Muslim community is based on these principles. The idea that God is One implies the fact that all men are equal, for the simple reason that we all come from one man and one woman. This means that all of humanity is one family, brothers and sisters, equal before God, different only in the sublimity of our deeds. God’s will, among other things, is also manifested in the racial, national, and religious diversity of people. The Qur’an never speaks of an “Arab God” or a “Muslim God”, but of the God of all people, of all worlds, visible and invisible, He is Rabbul-alemin (Lord of the worlds). This paper aims to point out the necessity of interreligious dialogue as a significant factor that contributes to improving mutual respect, reducing and eliminating prejudices, and establishing the foundations for new relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Europe, in which the superiority of more numerous and stronger religions will not be felt against fewer and less numerous religions. , nations, and individuals.

THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON SECURITY IN THE WORLD AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Academician prof. Ph.D. Hana Korac
Indira Baruchija – Oezcoban, MA

Religion exerts influence on security and politics, varying in intensity across different countries and regions. It is evident that during conflicts, confrontations, or wars, the impact of religion becomes more pronounced. The relationship between politics and religion in the Western Balkans demonstrates that the resurgence of religious nationalism became one of the primary instruments for the exploitation of religion by politics, which resulted in the war and aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, as well as the dissolution of Yugoslavia. From a security perspective, the Dayton Peace Agreement brought an end to the war but left a society divided along national and religious lines, with pervasive mistrust and a sense of security tied to national identity, causing citizens’ feelings of security to be stronger where the majority belongs to their nation. The aggression against Bosnia and post-war trauma bear witness to the survival of nationalist politics, often exploiting religion for political purposes. We discuss the concept of “unfinished warfare,” analyzing and perpetually posing the question of why Christianity viewed Islam as a threat in Bosnia and why there are ongoing threats of violence and new conflicts in certain territories, undermining the security of Bosnian citizens. The authority of religious leaders to promote messages of peace without violence has been undermined by the events of war.”

BOSNIAN IDENTITY BETWEEN PRIDE AND FEAR, MISUNDERSTANDING AND DENIAL

Prof. dr. Slobodan Šoja

Unlike many other European countries, which were created mostly on national principles, Bosnia and Herzegovina was created based on ideas and culture. This is a fact that many people in our country are not aware of. Individuals instinctively perceive this fact as their pride, and some other individuals underestimate or deny it. But unlike many European countries where the national idea – which was a solid foundation for the construction of a modern state – evolved towards the state idea and became stronger than the national idea, in Bosnia and Herzegovina this process went in the opposite direction. In Europe, the people turned into a nation, and in our country, the nation, that is, the state, branched out into nations. There are many reasons why it was just like that and why today the ethnic, i.e. national, idea is far stronger than the state, i.e. national, idea. The great political, social, economic, and cultural transformation at the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia particularly affected BiH simply because Yugoslavia itself was created on the same principle as BiH, on the principle of ideas and culture, so according to some, BiH should have followed the fate of Yugoslavia. As a term organically linked to the idea of the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia has survived and is surviving all the consequences of sudden and negative changes in recent decades on its own and wider soil. That is why today, more than three decades after the creation of the modern state of BiH, the idea of Bosnia, instead of rising, is on a historical dead end as an object of misunderstanding, fear, and denial.

WHY THERE IS NO CONSCIENCE OF THE HUMAN RACE

Milena Cuznar and academician dr. Aleksandar Knezevic

About thirty years ago, we, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were victims of the conflict between two world civilizations. Western civilization aimed to dominate the states of Central Europe and the Balkans. Orthodox civilization wanted to gain access to the warm (Adriatic) sea and organized the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Yugoslav People’s Army and the authorities of the Federal Republic of Serbia. Western civilization has partially succeeded in its intention. Today, different forms of war are being waged between these two civilizations in two places (around the Black Sea and in the Orthodox or partially Orthodox states of the Balkans). We are witnessing the escalation of the conflict related to the non-regulation of territories and relations after the world, after the horrors of the Holocaust, passed a resolution on the establishment of the State of Israel on part of the territory of the State of Palestine. The world was horrified by the suffering of besieged Sarajevo, especially the genocide in Srebrenica. Today, the world is horrified by the suffering of the citizens of Palestine, regardless of what preceded Israel’s actions. How does the Homo Sapiens species react to all this? Does the human species have its conscience? Research has shown that there is none.

The development of consciousness can be described by the equation: Development of consciousness = Freedom x strength + responsibility x love

However, the human conscience is cocooned. It is wrapped in two layers: (i) morality, ethics, religion, and culture, and (ii) self-interest. There are cases where human conscience erupts. Then the expression
of consciousness appears in an environment that includes (iii) state, public, religious, and political pressure and (iv) the rules of world development established by the world’s richest people. The paper details this, and considers the motives of conscience, limiting factors, and the reaction of the environment. How to act? In which direction is the development of global conscience going? When will the collective consciousness of Homo Sapiens emerge?

VISION OF THE COMMON CONSCIOUSNESS SOCIETY – WHAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BRINGS US

Academician dr. Aleksandar Knezevic

Each type of development goes by levels. The range of each level is limited, and the number of levels
is unlimited (G. Hegel, F. Engels). On Planet Earth, the first level of development was the creation of the geosphere (two formable universes: energy and matter). The second level is the creation of the geo-bio sphere (nature), where all living beings experience nature as a quality. The third level of development is the creation of a geo-bio-socio sphere where humanity perceives nature as a deficiency. Society began to develop with the emergence of ownership of land (soil) and ownership in general. Protection of property and punishment, and prevention of property theft is the basic characteristic of development at today’s (second) level of development, from the appearance of Homo sapiens until today. This process is accompanied by a change in the use of space, the depletion of natural contents, and a change in the quality of air, water, and soil. Development is realized through the development triad: technological development, cultural development, and social development. The geosphere is characterized by the entropy of two formable universes (energy and matter), while the appearance of living beings (geo-biosphere) creates informational negentropy. These three types of development have led to the development of information technologies, which is the reach of the third level of development on the planet and the impetus for moving to the fourth level of development – the Society of Common Consciousness using artificial intelligence. After a period of intense abuse, a new level of development will be established. “Artificial” here does not mean anything that is not related to the human organism. The artificial leg is attached to the body. Artificial intelligence is not made by robots but by the connection of technology with humans. In that society, every person is electronically connected to their computer, where the brain simultaneously uses its software and information, as well as software and data from its electronic computer. Through his computer, he is connected to the world information system. This worldwide integration of software and data is the technical basis for the development of the Society of Common Consciousness. The second component of development is the previously mentioned development triad, but based on a unique system of software and data. Man is immortal; after his physical death, what remains is his computer with its software. In this fourth stage of development, in addition to the aforementioned development triad, the sign of the number three also includes the content of the planet Earth: society, original nature, and deep biology (cultivation of new species and direct production of organic matter), and the creation of a common consciousness of flora, fauna, and humanity. The mega goal of this system is intensive broadcasting from Earth of informational negentropy, which supports the creation of a part of another universe.

ESTABLISHMENT, ACHIEVEMENT, AND DIRECTIONS OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION IN THE WORLD WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Prof. dr Zijad Hasić

In the long history of the struggle for the independence of each state, and thus of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the crucial elements is also the creation and building of a nation in that state. It is a long-term struggle because each country is building its own and characteristic nation. The foundations for the creation of the nation are centuries old, but its form itself emerged relatively late, in the 18th century. From the creation of France to the nations of this century, states were created, existed, and disappeared, and along with the creation of those countries at a given moment, the processes of the creation of nations also took place. The origin of nations in the world, their development, and perspectives, including the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are distinguished by their uniqueness about the state, the difference in the time of origin, the intensity and strength of duration, so the author will point out the conceptual definition of the nation, the diversity of the nation and the people, the historical review of development, how in the world, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Special attention will be paid to the direction of development of the nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the possibilities of improving the elements that make up the nation, both objective and subjective, which includes geographical, linguistic, population, cultural (and traditional) ethnic and religious elements. It will be interesting to analyze the readiness of people in a certain national area to live together and identify the individual with the nation, as well as other elements. In the end, the author will give certain conclusions, with recommendations aimed at affirming the nation and its relationship to the state and to man, especially in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA BETWEEN CIVIL AND ETHNO-NATIONAL CONCEPTS OF SOCIETY

Dr. Muhamed Šemoski

The paper aims to show research on the example of Macedonia that shows that the civil concept of the state is bound with deep ethno-national divisions and what are the ways and factors that will contribute to transforming a state from an ethno-national into a civil state. Likewise, the goals of the work are to systematically show the influence of nationalist policies in shaping the concept of the state. The subject of the work is research that shows the domain of implementation of constitutional changes and the slow transition of the country after the Ohrid Agreement. The research problem is reflected in the fact that the growth and performance of the Ohrid Agreement have slowed down, and there is selective progress in certain areas after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the declaration of independence in January 1991. The Republic of Macedonia (later North Macedonia) highlighted one of its strategic interests in joining the European Union. In this regard, it is going through various stages in relations, rapprochement, and integration into the European Union with strong will and determination. Macedonia held its first multi-party elections in November 1990. The Macedonian National Front coalition, which brought together four parties with a national identity, won. The alliance was led by VMRO-DPMNE (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity). VMRO won 37 out of 120 delegate seats in the Assembly. Individually, the second party with 30 delegate seats was the reformed communists, who in May 1992 called themselves the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM). Officially, this party supported the survival of the Yugoslav federation at the time of the election but became increasingly more in favor of the independence of the Macedonian state. Third in strength with 24 mandates was the Party of Democratic Prosperity, mainly supported by Albanians. This political outcome in the elections defined Macedonia as a sovereign ethno-national state. The leading party was nationalistic, with dangerous slogans that not only discriminated against other ethnic communities but even propagated the disappearance of national minorities. Members of the Albanian minority did not vote in the Assembly for the Constitution; they even left the session precisely because of discrimination against national minorities. However, there are several factors that we will explain in this paper, which were vital to redefining Macedonia from an ethnonational state to a multinational (consensual) state.

UNEQUAL POSITION OF THREE EQUAL PEOPLES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ABOUT “OTHERS” IN THE CONSTITUTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Berina Beširović, MA

Annex 4 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina even 28 years after it’s ratification serves as the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, without ever reaching a political agreement and consensus for its reform. The reform is necessary because the Constitution conflicts with some of the most significant norms of European law regarding ethnic-based discrimination, even though it recognizes the supremacy of these norms, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms. In this paper, we will first explain the title and especially the part about why we label “constituent peoples” as “equal”, and then why we say that the three named peoples, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, are in different legal positions compared to “Others” (minorities) and about each other. This topic is particularly important when talking about the perspectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the way to European integration because one of the key preconditions for EU membership is the implementation of judgments made by the European Court of Human Rights, regarding the unequal position of different peoples in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this reason, we will refer to the five key judgments that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg passed against Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus point out the necessary reforms.

The international scientific conference entitled People, Nation, and Religion in the Contemporary World and Bosnia and Herzegovina was organized by the Bosnian Academy of Sciences and Arts “Kulin Ban” with the support of the Ministry for Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton and BH Post.