A group of young students of the Council of Europe's Political Studies School in Bosnia and Herzegovina invited French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Bosnia and assure himself the country was not a ticking bomb because of Islamic radicalism, as he stated in an interview.
The group of students attended the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg organized under Macron’s auspices, from where “enriched and motivated by the acquired knowledge on democracy, freedoms, rights and respect, and with the desire to share that knowledge with you,” they invited him to come.
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“We will be your hosts,” the group wrote.
“We are not inviting to formal protocol visits to the Bosnia’s Parliamentary Assembly, the Bosnian Council of Ministers, the Bosnian Presidency – those are not the places that portray the Bosnia and Herzegovina which we feel and love,” the letter said, promising he will not be bored “with bilateral meetings, the result of which are press conferences on how to cooperation between the two countries should be improved.”
The group said that young people are constantly urged to face the past but that they now urge the French President to face the present.
“Leave your expensive suits behind and bring warm and comfortable clothes, shoes,” the letter said, adding that the group would like to take him for a hike to the Olympic mountains, along the country’s rivers, to cross destroyed and rebuilt bridges.
He will see a country which was “devastated by the war not so long ago and where people are still struggling to renovate buildings and houses today,” they wrote.
“Along the way, you will meet in some parts of our country people who do what domestic and international institutions are not capable of – dressing and nourishing their less fortunate fellow citizens, migrants, refugees, raising money to treat sick children. You won't see nearly as many homeless people as there are on the streets in France.”
The group also addressed Macron’s latest statement, saying that while visiting their country, “terrorists will not jump out of the bushes, but you will be greeted by people who, if they have two pieces of bread, they will give you one. Without knowing that you are the president of some big, rich country. Not caring about whether you are.”
The letter said that he is invited to visit one of the top 50 startup companies in Europe, a company that is one of the 50 fastest-growing tech companies in Central Europe, but that he will also pass by “disenfranchised, unmotivated, angry, sad and hardworking people.”
“You will find that we young people in this country nurture and inherit European values and culture as well. And that those values were cherished long ago by our ancestors – that we are part of a community we call Europe. Liberté, égalité, fraternité – Freedom, equality and fraternity are not reserved for France alone. These are values that, under far more difficult conditions, we aspire to,” they wrote.
“We are not turning a blind eye to the problem of extremist groups, individuals. We are opening yours to everything else which is big, plentiful, beautiful – what our country is,” the students explained.
“We don’t need the gravity of the deception you have expressed – it should not surprise you that not everyone thinks you are welcome in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But we are special here because we have learned and we are learning to forgive. This is an opportunity for you – not for us, we create our own opportunities for ourselves,” they wrote.
“President Macron, welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our home is not a ticking time-bomb,” their letter concluded.
