Bosnia needs to be a modern, liberal and civic state set up according to European standards, the head of the country’s Islamic Community, Husein Effendi Kavazovic, said on Tuesday.

He told the ‘Patria’ news agency in an interview that it is not up to religious communities to get involved in daily politics, but that it is also “not realistic to expect them to ignore what is going on in society,” referring to the political turmoil that gripped the country after the October General Election last year.

“The Islamic Community wants a progressive Bosnia and Herzegovina in which the dominant colour should be blue, the European colour,” Kavazovic said.

The political setting in Bosnia is “split into three nationalist parties on one side and civic parties on the other,” he said. “The first group is afraid a civic Bosnia and Herzegovina would endanger the collective rights of the national groups. The latter, on the other hand, blame nationalist parties for splitting up Bosnia’s society, which is known for centuries by its multi-ethnicity.”

Bosnia has faced a lot of dangers, yet has still managed to survive, he said.

“It will last, as most of its citizens see it as their only homeland. I am more concerned about what it will look like, how it will be set up and how attractive it will be for future generations,” he said.

“We need a modern, liberal and civic state. We need a state set up according to European standards and within it a Bosnian characteristic,” he concluded.