Independence Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Independence Day (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: Dan nezavisnosti, Cyrillic: Дан независности) is a public holiday of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 March to celebrate the independence of the then Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.

Independence Day
The eternal flame in Sarajevo with the national flag on Independence Day, 2019
Official name	Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Type	PGPG
Significance	Commemorates the anniversary of the successful 1992 Bosnian independence referendum[1]
Celebrations	Dances, concerts
Date	1 March
Frequency	Annual

History

Citizens of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a constituent federal state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, voted in an independence referendum held between 28 February and 1 March 1992.^[2] The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others who live in it?"^[3] Independence was strongly favoured by Muslims and Bosnian Croat voters, while majority of Bosnian Serbs boycotted it. Voter turnout was 63.6 percent, of whom 99.7 percent voted for the independence.^[4]

The results of the referendum were accepted on 6 March by the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 7 April 1992, the European Community recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state.^[5] The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the parliament of the Bosnian–Croat Federation) decided on 28 February 1995 that 1 March would be the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a national holiday.^[6] Independence Day was celebrated for the first time on 1 March 1995.^[5]

Observance

The Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina is celebrated only in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Republika Srpska boycotts this holiday and celebrates its own Independence Day on 9 January.^[7] Milorad Dodik, former President of Republika Srpska and current Bosnian Presidency member, has claimed that Independence Day "is a holiday of the Bosniak people and we do not dispute it, but it is not a holiday celebrated in the Republika Srpska (RS)".^[8] Most Bosnian Serbs instead associate the date with the 1 March 1992 attack on a Serb wedding procession in Sarajevo which resulted in the death of the groom's father and the wounding of a Serbian Orthodox priest, whom most Bosnian Serbs consider to have been the first casualties of the Bosnian War.^[9]

References

Citation

1. Batnes et al. 2003, p. 608.
2. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 330.
3. Velikonja 2003, p. 237.
4. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 334.
5. Berman 2001, p. 148.
6. "Danas je Dan nezavisnosti BiH" (in Bosnian). Radio Sarajevo. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
7. Brunn et al. 2000, p. 1641.
8. Kaletovic, Bedrana (3 March 2012). "BiH marks independence, but not all celebrate". Southeast European Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
9. Latal, Srecko (2 March 2015). "Disputes Simmer Over Bosnian Independence Day". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 28 April 2022.

Sources

• Batnes, Ian; Champion, Neil; Hudson, Robert; Macdonald, Fiona; Oliver, Clare; Seacey, Gillian; Steele, Philip (2003). Peoples of Europe. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. ISBN 0-7614-7378-5.
• Berman, David M. (2001). The Heroes of Treća Gimnazija: A War School in Sarajevo, 1992–1995. Rownam & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-8476-9567-0.
• Gow, James (2003). The Serbian Project and its Adversaries: A Strategy of War Crimes. London: C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-85065-646-3.
• Brunn, Stefano; Felton, Michelle; Haywood, John; Kerrigan, Michael Thomas; Lund-Lack, Simon; Plowright, John; Swift, John (2000). World And Its People: Western Balkans. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. ISBN 978-0-7614-7883-6.
• Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh & Co. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
• Velikonja, Mitja (2003). Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-58544-226-3.
• Walling, Carrie Booth (2013). All Necessary Measures: The United Nations and Humanitarian Intervention. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0847-4.