Elmedin Konakovic, the leader of the People and Justice Party (NIP) and Bosnian Foreign Minister, has announced a regional summit of the Bosniaks in Sarajevo, explaining that this was not his idea but was proposed by “the Bosniaks who see Bosnia and Herzegovina as their motherland and who expect the political Sarajevo to gather them together, while they live and do politics in other countries of the region.”

“Some of them strongly disagree on various political matters, but they are united on this and are ready to sit next to each other at the meeting in Sarajevo,” said Konakovic.

The meeting is set to take place on April 12 and the topics, according to Konakovic, would include a variety of “identity matters such as language, religion, tradition, culture, education, history and others” with the EU integration as a common goal.

“A joint political action by elected parliamentarians is one of the ideas proposed by the colleagues,” he said, adding that some of these topics were suggested at the Ramadan fast-breaking dinners in Podgorica and Zagreb.

“The invited parties are seriously dealing with ethnic rights within secular systems, they advocate the civic, but they also give a great importance to ethnic identities. I talked to the colleagues who come from the left-wing and liberal political spectrum and all those who think they belong in this gathering are more than welcome,” Konakovic wrote in a Facebook post.

He refused a possibility of anyone gaining political points at this event and said he was ready to be there with his strongest political opponents. Here he mentioned the leader of the Bosniak-majority SDA party, noting that he is ready to see the leader be the first one to address this event, as the leader of the party with the largest number of votes among all political parties in the region.

“I am ready to bring in the chairs for those who will take the seat but this meeting must finally happen. The Bosniaks in the region are political people of enormous potential. Time has come for this potential to direct and articulate, and the cooperation among us improves. For our people, for our children, our painful history and our bright future,” he said.

SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic swiftly responded, saying he did receive the invitation but that he would not attend the summit.

“The main reason is Konakovic's leading role in the group of the political parties that, for their own interests, stepped onto the election will of the Bosniaks, their dignity and national interest,” said Izetbegovic, referring to Konakovic's post-election coalition choices.

He also said that the status of the Bosniaks cannot be discussed without their political representatives in institutions.

Izetbegovic called “strange” Konakovic's selection of the invited participants, noting that some of the Bosniak representatives, including the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Vice President of the Federation entity, the Prime Minister of the Federation entity were not invited, while the representatives of some non-parliamentary parties were.