Bosnia’s Islamic Community finds it disputable that Islam and Islamic identity are often put in a negative context, spokesperson Muhamed Jusic told N1 commenting on a statement of Serbian Foreign Minister who attended a Saturday’s political rally in Bosnian northwestern town Laktasi.

Speaking at a rally of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the major Serb party in Bosnia, Ivica Dacic said Bosnia will never be a Muslim country suggesting that this is what the Bosniaks want.

According to Jusic, this is a situation where Islam and Islamic identity are seen “as an offence.”

“Islamic Community finds it disputable that Islam and Islamic identity are more and more often put in a negative context in public space of both Bosnia and Herzegovina and the neighbourly Serbia. We have a situation where Islam and Islamic identity are seen as an offence,” said Jusic.

According to him, this trend does not contribute to the healing in society or reconciliation.

“We believe it is not a coincidence that the Muslim identity is discussed because we know that the war broke out on these territories on the stories about the fight against Islamic fundamentalism, against Islamisation of Bosnia, and that this was actually the ideological basis for the crimes and genocide that were committed here,” warned Jusic.

“We don’t think it is a mistake or accidental choice of words but that this is exactly about putting the Islamic identity in a negative context and presenting it as a potential threat – not only here but also in Europe,” he said for N1.

Serbian FM’s statement also triggered a reaction of the head of Bosnia’s government, who accused Dacic of sending “malicious messages of hatred and intolerance.”