Regardless of the subsequent clarifications, the question of the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor, addressed to the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina about the possibility of peaceful separation, is very serious and indicative, so the future behave should be according to that fact. After the secret “non-paper” finally came to the public, the real intention of right-wing European circles and separatist policies in the Balkans were revealed. On the other hand, proponents of a united Europe should ask themselves whether the idea of ​​reshaping the Balkans is the goal, or just the first step on the path to the final disintegration of Europe? History has shown that processes are always easier to start than to control events afterwards. For now, the only thing that is obvious is that Europe hides in its backyard very active Euro-destructive political forces.

A special war has been waged against Bosnia and Herzegovina for a long time by all means, except military! To those who are knowledgable with broader geopolitical movements it is clear that this special, or hybrid war, is not directed exclusively against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also against the European Union and NATO. Bosnia and Herzegovina is just one of the training grounds.

Now it has been publicly confirmed that Borut Pahor did not ask such a question in Sarajevo in order to satisfy personal curiosity. Everything was planned for a long time, and it that was just remained to check the patience and pulse of those forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina that oppose it. During the war Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that from an impossible military and political position was able to make a miracle and impose itself as the most important topic in the world for 4 years. The conclusion is the same now as then, the advocates of border changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not know Bosnia and Herzegovina or the mentality of its inhabitants at all!  Therefore, the question is who needs new adventures in the heart of Europe and why at this very moment?

Thinking about changing the borders in Europe is a reflection of those interests that have been seriously, and for a long time, eroding the very foundations of the European Union. The real questions are, why and how anti-European action in the Balkans does not bother the Europe, which goes over it without much attention and with no or mild reactions. What should be seriously considered, at least in Berlin, Paris and Brussels, is this: “Do true proponents of European unity think they can preserve the European Union if some of its members play for Russian rather than European interests?”

It is clear to anyone that the Balkans in that context is just a preparation ground, and that the ultimate goal is to break up Europe as one of the three most important and sophisticated markets in the world. A united Europe has everything needed for serious participation in the world game of modern times: technology, a standard of living for its citizens, a strong industrial and scientific base and a population.  In the case of fragmentation, each member state is a less important player on the world stage comparing to the United States, China, Russia, India, Brazil, and other populous countries.

It is obvious that the escalation of policy in the Balkans starts after 2014, more precisely after the war in Ukraine and the Russiam annexation of Crimea. The goal of anti-European and anti-NATO policy is to destabilize NATO, the European Union and break the alliance between the United States and the European Union. Producing problems and instability in the Balkans, which lies deep in NATO’s hinterland, is just one of the springboards for destabilizing a free and democratic world.

It is very strange and confusing how Europe has been playing an almost neutral role between pro-Russian and pro-Western policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia for years, embracing the role of a kind of UNPROFOR on its own soil, between itself and those who are destroying the Europe. Instead of providing unequivocal support to pro-European political forces in this part of the world through its mechanisms, Europe, by its passivity, leaves the fragile democracies of the Balkans at the mercy of influences of those that do not want to see the integration of the Balkans into NATO and the European Union. In addition, some European members openly support destabilizing ideas and policies. The question of peaceful separation in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be the last alarm for Brussels, which must finally take seriously that it has forces in its own courtyard that are not unreservedly on the side of Europe and its long-term stability. The wider consequences of potential new conflicts in the Balkans would be incalculable for both Europe and the world.

The Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as many European diplomats in Sarajevo, for long time are allowing development of malignant rhetoric that erodes the basic idea of ​​the European Union, namely the rule of human rights, equality and democracy. The first step on the path of destabilization of Bosnia and Herzegovina was made at the moment when was allowed equalization of the aggressors on Bosnia and Herzegovina with the forces that legally and legitimately defended the state. The history and the World brought verdicts and court epilogues supported by documents, that genocide took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a joint criminal enterprise, none of which is the deed of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which we are witnessing every day, continued with political and economic means.  Since the price of restarting the war in order to break up Bosnia and Herzegovina is too high, the new tactic is to bring everything to absurdity, by persistently equating the victim and the perpetrator. This seeks to blunt any thought of resistance to such behavior, reducing all parties to the same level. The greatest strength of Bosnia and Herzegovina was and is, precisely the honorable struggle for its preservation, and therefore there is try to minimize this fact.

It is strange that all political actors who deny the verdicts of domestic and international courts encounter a tolerant attitude of right-wing European officials, which encourages deniers of European values ​​to continue their mission even more aggressively. Condemnations of those who make such public statements on daily basis are rare, and concrete sanctions for genocide deniers, and thus of proclaimed European values, have been completely absent. Unlike the United States, which sent a clear message to the genocide deniers, putting them on the black list, the Europe, on whose soil this is happening, has remained silent!

The first goal of separatist activities is by repeating the statements about the disintegration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which realization is impossible at this moment, to amortize public in order to make the abnormal topics as a normal and acceptable. Such actions have a goal to passivize and exhaust those policies that stand on position of defending the independence and integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These patriotic forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the only ones who unreservedly see their country as a future member of NATO and the European Union.  If Bosnia and Herzegovina does not become that, then it is obvious that policies that are against Euro-Atlantic integration have won in the Balkans. Europe must find and identify which members wants such an outcome?

In parallel with the denial of genocide as well as of joint criminal enterprise, with the glorification of war criminals and crimes followed by public statements about the impossibility of the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the reform processes that are a condition for Euro-Atlantic integration are blocked. This seeks to create the image that those who defend European values ​​and who unreservedly advocate for membership in the European Union and NATO are to blame for the dysfunction of state institutions, and therefore Bosnia and Herzegovina should be divided.

The test Bosnia and Herzegovina is going through is the most difficult since 1995, when the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed. At that time, Europe did not have the strength or the way to stop the destruction of one of the oldest states in Europe, which was and remains an example of an autochthonous multi-religious and multicultural community. Europe has watched helplessly as the most heinous crimes, including genocide, take place on its soil. Thanks to the leadership of the United States of America, that came again to help Europe, the worst massacre in Europe after the Second World War was stopped. America saved Europe in World War II, and had saved it in 1995 again! The values ​​often invoked by the European Union were defeated in 1995. Everything that is written in the European Declaration of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been violated in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, we cannot give up and we must defend European and universal civilized values ​​together with those political forces in Europe and the world, that are aware of the special war being waged on European soil. Once again, we need to truly and deeply think about all the directions in which malignant processes that are smoldering in the Balkans can develop. Decisive and concrete moves that will complete the integration of the Balkans into the Euro-Atlantic family of states should be made from Brussels and other European power centers. Any other development could be disastrous for the whole of Europe. It is probably hard to imagine it at this point, so it is important that those who truly understand political processes and have power, finally raise their voices and take decisive steps. The European Union is the most successful peace project in the history of the continent, and it would be catastrophic if it experience a collapse, which is not impossible if it does not take clear and unambiguous steps towards its own consolidation.

IGES