After it became quite certain that the 46th American president will be Joe Biden, and the vice president will be Kamala Harris , the first woman and the first person who is not white to become the vice president of the United States of America, undoubtedly one of our young and successful men has some of the credit.
This is Elvir Klempić, a native of Srebrenica who is in Biden’s campaign headquarters, where he was in charge of relations with ethnic communities in the United States. He is largely responsible for the fact that the Bosnian diaspora sided with the future president Biden .
In some American states, Bosnian support was crucial.
Confident of victory
Elvir was completely confident in the success of President Biden and his team until the end, and four days ago he very clearly announced a historic victory, which was extremely important for our country.
It is a big story when a boy who survived the genocide in Srebrenica, 25 years later, is part of the team of the future American president .
That, as Dr. Emir Suljagić would say, would be enough to know about the future President Biden, who was the first to call the crime in Srebrenica and Bosnia and Herzegovina genocide. Without further ado.
Biden, respecting the education and knowledge that Elvir acquired in America, at the same time made a great gesture of humanity, thus paying respect to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica.
As a reminder, Klempić announced Biden’s plan for Bosnia in the second half of October. It stated, among other things, that Biden planned to bring together partners within the EU and NATO to jointly develop a strategy for strengthening the position of the Western Balkans in Euro-Atlantic institutions.
“Joe Biden pledges to forever be against hate, and to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and multiethnic character of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the program said, as reported by the media at the time.
Oslobođenje had an extensive interview with Klempić last year, in which he revealed that he and his family moved to the United States from Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of this millennium.
“We knew that if we wanted a better life, we had to come to America,” Klempic said then about his parents’ decision to move to Des Moines, Iowa, when he was only nine years old.
He has, by his own admission, adapted well to the American way of life, although he has maintained strong ties to his Bosnian-Herzegovinian roots. He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in international relations and political science, and moved to Washington during his senior year.
There he began working for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the most important organ of the Democratic Party. He traveled all over the country to engage various ethnic and religious communities and get them interested in politics.
Bosnia and America
As a political strategist associated with the Democrats, he worked on several political campaigns, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, when she was surprisingly defeated by current President Donald Trump , and he also worked at the US Department of Energy. A special achievement can be attributed to him being able to organize the first-ever Iowa caucus in mosques, Zagreb’s Tportal previously wrote.
Working on the political engagement of ethnic communities across the country at the DNC, he wanted to include the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in his home state of Iowa. He is the founder of the Bosnian-American Association of Iowa . Even then, it was important to him to connect the nearly 15,000 Bosnian-American citizens who live in the greater Des Moines area.
” I am proud to be of Bosnian and Herzegovinian origin. I am aware of the struggle our people have gone through to maintain their identity and culture, and of the thousands of people who have died to protect our history. I hope that we will be able to overcome the difficulties in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans, and I will do my best to contribute to that in the most positive way possible,” he explained.
At the same time, he claims, he is a proud American because when the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina were fighting, America opened its doors to them.
“It gave us the opportunity to express ourselves and if we use the opportunities provided, immigrants and refugees have a second chance in life. Other countries simply do not give people such opportunities. America is unique in that way,” Klempic said at the time.
The BH community is proud of the success of Elvira Klempić
The President of the Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the United States, Ajla Delkić , said that the Bosnian community is proud of Elvira Klempić’s success.
” Elvir Klempić came to America as a refugee . He survived the genocide in Srebrenica and, like most people from our diaspora, fought “for everything he has achieved. This year he officially started working for Joe Biden, and was in charge of relations with ethnic communities in the United States. The Advisory Council is proud of Elvir because he was our Fellow when he came to Washington. He was hardworking and persistent, and through his effort and his knowledge he managed to reach the very top in America,” said Delkić .
Taken from Radiosarajevo.ba
