"Patriotism of the authorities – Are Serbs slowly becoming a minority in Istocno Sarajevo?" is the title of a blog post published by Nebojsa Vukanovic, a representative in the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska. The text, signed by the "List for Justice and Order Istocno Sarajevo," includes several controversial and even scandalous opinions. Hearing such statements, especially in 2024, when ordinary citizens are not concerned with divisions, is quite distasteful and somewhat frightening, particularly because these statements are coming from young people.

According to Vukanovic, he is not the author of the text, but rather his supporters from Istocno Sarajevo, young people who cannot afford to buy an apartment in the city. He approved the text and says he sees no problem with it.

So, what is the point of the text, we ask?

“On one hand, there is the proclaimed policy of the SNSD and Milorad Dodik, claiming that borders exist, that Bosniaks are the cause of all problems, that he defends Serbdom, and that he knows where the entity line is. Meanwhile, his mayor in Istočno Sarajevo has no issue sitting down and negotiating with Bosniak tycoons and investors an hour after a protest declaring ‘The border exists,’ telling them ‘where to mark a building for us to make, just so we can strike our corrupt deal,'” says Vukanović, implying that this has led to a situation where working-class people, those with jobs and registered on minimum wage, face a square meter price in Istocno Sarajevo of 4,000 KM, making it theoretically impossible for them to secure a loan of 200,000 KM and buy an apartment.

In the text, residents of Istocno Sarajevo are referred to as “the better part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” To this, Vukanovic responds that nowhere in the text are Bosniaks mentioned, but rather that it refers to ‘those from the working class, who are not supporters of Dodik and do not work in BiH institutions, having no chance to solve their housing situation in their lifetime.’

He again turns to the president of RS, Milorad Dodik, emphasizing that he and the people who work with him have no problem giving investors from Sarajevo the rights to build buildings in Istocno Sarajevo, and that most buyers come from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), where salaries are higher than in Istocno Sarajevo.

“Nowhere does it say that Arabs, Croats, Bosniaks, Russians, or others should be prohibited from buying apartments,” he adds.

When it is pointed out that the text repeatedly mentions people from the Federation buying apartments in Istocno Sarajevo, and why what he is now saying wasn't mentioned in the text, he replies that he only skimmed the article, did a copy-paste, and published it, emphasizing that the point is about the local authorities of Istočno Sarajevo, who, according to him, favor people from FBiH.

“We wanted to create a new city, on our land, and manage it. The fact that we were not allowed to call it Srpsko Sarajevo but rather Istocno Sarajevo does not mean it is no longer ours. If we continue like this, it won't be ours for much longer,” is one of the statements from the controversial text.

“They're talking about how, if this trend continues, in about 10 years, someone like Ibrahim Hadzimustafic will be the mayor of Istocno Sarajevo. And that's a fact. This doesn't align with the policy that the SNSD proclaims, ‘we won't give anything to the Bosniaks, we are a state, we are seceding,'” says Vukanovic, commenting on the claims from the published text.