Pettigrew: Serb and Croat nationalist maintain 'apartheid systems that discriminate against Bosniaks'

"Republika Srpska and the Bosnian Croat 'third entity' (formerly Herceg-Bosna) are a continuation of operations in pursuit of the ideologies of 'Greater Serbia' and 'Greater Croatia' in the 1990s, respectively, operations that were judged to be Joint Criminal Enterprises by the ICTY. National security concerns require that Mr. Dodik and Mr. Covic be held accountable for continuing to pursue the goals of those Joint Criminal Enterprises aimed at dismantling the State," said Pettigrew.

Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat nationalists, he stressed, maintain today what can only be described as "apartheid systems that discriminate against Bosniaks in the areas of education, employment, and political representation." Lead by SNSD and HDZ, they deny the genocide, reject ICTY judgements, glorify war criminals, and prevent survivors from installing memorials. National security concerns require that such persecution, denial, and human rights violations be condemned and prosecuted, he underlined.

According to Pettigrew, 'Republika Srpska Day', which has been declared unconstitutional, must be banned as it is a celebration of the aggression and genocide and a dehumanizing provocation.

"Although Milorad Dodik was removed from his office, he continues to generate such constant provocations now as he leads the SNSD. He continues his anti-Muslim hate speech against Bosniaks and recently against the Central Election Commission. National security concerns as well as the Criminal Code of BiH require that Mr. Dodik be held responsible for his hate speech and genocide denial. He must be prosecuted as appropriate and at the very least sanctions must be reimposed," he said.

Pettigrew also warned that the Russian Federation, which supports the separatist goals of both Republika Srpska and the creation of a Bosnian Croat 'third entity' as part of its strategy to destabilize the State and prevent Bosnia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, "must be seen as an existential threat."

"Faced with this existential threat, there must be renewed efforts to expedite Bosnia’s accession to NATO in order to protect Bosnia from the expansionist projects of Croatia, Serbia and the Russian Federation, projects seeking to destabilize the region. A recent US National Security Strategy document (November 2025) emphasized that NATO should no longer continue to expand as it has in the past. Therefore, Bosnia and its EU allies need to advocate strenuously for the importance of its membership in NATO," he noted.

"With strategic security achieved in these ways, BiH would be able to reassert the rule of law and pursue transitional justice initiatives designed to transform the culture, enabling citizens to install memorials at locations where the atrocities committed were judged to be war crimes and removing symbols that glorify convicted war criminals. Thus far the international community and the OHR have failed to support the installation of memorials or to prevent the glorification of convicted war criminals. The question is when they will take responsibility to support a culture of remembrance that is so crucial for a secure and democratic future for BiH," he added.