As part of the celebration of the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we had the honor of hosting dear friends and representatives of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora from Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg, as well as friends from our homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This meeting is growing into a beautiful and valuable tradition. We gather on the occasion of the National Day in order to celebrate it together, but also to exchange experiences from our work, learn from each other and improve the activities of our organizations in the diaspora. We sincerely thank our dear friends for coming, open dialogue and exchange of experiences.It is worth reminding that this form of meeting and cooperation used to be the established practice of the World Alliance of the Diaspora of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From the discussion, it was clear that the World Diaspora Alliance of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not met even the minimum standards for what it was founded for a long time. The key reason for this situation has been identified as the long-standing, unchanging and closed leadership of the Alliance by its president, Hasan Šehović, who has held that position for 12–13 years. As pointed out, almost everything in the Alliance can be changed and improved – except the president. The fact that the World Alliance of the BiH Diaspora has not had a single concrete activity in the last 18 months is particularly worrying.
For this reason, during the meeting, a serious and constructive discussion was opened on alternative models of diaspora organization and cooperation, which would require less energy and time than the constant, well-intentioned, but obviously unsuccessful attempts at reform within the World Alliance.We are particularly proud that during this celebration, an important historical fact was highlighted: for the first time in history, the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina was celebrated in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which represents a significant step forward in the affirmation of our country and the role of the diaspora.
