1. Let’s start an important thread: Portrayals of Bosnia as a source of ‘Islamic threat’ echo anti-muslim narratives that led to genocide of Bosniaks in the 1990s.
My article on “Why Macron’s remarks on Bosnia are dangerous” is out! aje.io/bc9jq @AJEnglish
My article on “Why Macron’s remarks on Bosnia are dangerous” is out! aje.io/bc9jq @AJEnglish
2. First, let us look at the facts. After the civil war broke out in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerged, about 200 Bosnian citizens (0.017 percent of the Bosnian Muslim population) went to fight in the conflict.
3. About 50 remain in Syria and Iraq, along with around 50 women and more than 100 children. Last month, it was announced that the country will repatriate nine other fighters to try them for their crimes. The government is currently preparing to bring back the women and children.
4. Since 2011, there has been NO terrorist attack on Bosnian territory and outside of the context of Syria and Iraq, there has been NO proven direct participation of Bosnian nationals in any such incidents abroad .
5. Nevertheless, since 2015, Bosnia has been working on developing a solution to the problem of radicalisation, including passing relevant legislation, building institutional capacity, working on education, prevention, and deradicalisation programmes, etc.
6. It is also important to point out that Bosniaks have always practised an inclusive, localised form of Islam that welcomes religious diversity. It was during & after the last war that strange & previously unfamiliar rigid interpretations were introduced through foreign fighters
7. At countless instances (including after the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris), the office of the Islamic Community has condemned publicly violent extremist ideas and foreign interpretations of religion. READ: 
8. In other words, the country as a whole has worked hard to resolve the issue of radicalisation to the best of its abilities, despite the many difficulties it experiences, including its complex government structure.
9. Reading this about Mitterrand is always hard. During the Bosnian war of 1992-1995, he told his US counterpart Clinton that, despite having sent humanitarian aid to Bosnia, "he was more sympathetic to the Serbs than I was, and less willing to see a Muslim-led unified Bosnia".
10. Apart from domestic preoccupations, however, there seems to be another reason for Macron's outrageous comments. His mention of Croatia is not coincidental. In recent years, Croatian officials, including President Grabar-Kitarovic, used similar to smear Bosnia's reputation.
11. According to the European Islamophobia Report 2018, there has been "a large increase in anti-Bosnian and anti-Muslim bigotry by the Bosnian Croat and Croatian political establishments and also by regional political actors".
12. The fact that Macron has now introduced the narrative that Bosnia is a "ticking time-bomb" into Western European discourse is even more alarming because it is seen as a form of validation and proof.
13. Over the past decade, historical revisionism, narratives justifying the aggression against Bosniaks as well as unabashed genocide denial have all been gaining ground among extremist Serbs in the region and as well as the diaspora.
14. Given Bosnia's violent recent history, it is unsurprising that its population is more worried about another inter-ethnic conflict than terrorism. And that is why it has been looking to the EU as a source of stability and security.
15. Surely, there is a lot of dysfunction in the EU & enlargement process is one aspect of it. But, politicians like Macron must understand that vetoing accession talks/killing that EU aspiration for Western Balkan countries is not going to make the bloc safer; just the opposite!
16. In fact, multiple studies have confirmed that it is precisely the process towards EU integration that has kept countries like Bosnia safer from those that might want to exploit its economic and ethnic vulnerabilities.
17. Ultimately, sharp reaction to Macron's words is NOT abt him personally or abt France. In fact, Bosnians remember quite well how another French president Chirac: "Bosnia & Herzegovina has been an example of tolerance in diversity for centuries. It can and should become again."
18. Macron is very much welcome to come and visit Bosnia. Perhaps if he sees and talks to Bosnians, he would understand why they worry about the ongoing aggressive policies of neighbouring countries and resurgent ethnic nationalism.
19. Those ongoing aggressive policies of neighbouring countries remind us of the genocide that Bosniaks faced in the 1990s - a horror that Europe should make sure NEVER REPEATS AGAIN.
20. Voila et merci pour votre attention @EmmanuelMacron Peace. The end.
