It is the duty of all of us to preserve, with reverence, the memory of the historic decision of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina for our state to be sovereign and independent.

With deep respect, we remember the brave defenders who protected the freedom, honour, and dignity of our state, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The history of Bosnia and Herzegovina bears witness to constant struggle, but never to surrender.

Our state is not an artificial creation, as claimed by proponents of expansionist state projects, but an authentic state with a thousand-year history.

Therefore, March 1, 1992, is no coincidence.

It is a historic act of affirming state continuity.

It is a democratic expression of the will of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with the highest standards of international law.

It is a triumph of dignity, pride, and the struggle for freedom.

It is a victory of legality.

The entire world recognized an independent, sovereign, and unified Bosnia and Herzegovina, never any para-state entities.

For centuries, generations of its finest sons and daughters have fought for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Our state is borne witness to by its people. By history. By literature. By generations, passed down from one to another.

When people fall silent, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian stećak (medieval tombstone) speaks. It is no coincidence that the great writer Miroslav Krleža wrote that “nowhere, ever, has anyone found a stećak on which a Bosnian kneels and begs.”

For centuries, Bosnia and Herzegovina has endured among empires, ideologies, great-power politics, wars, aggressions, and joint criminal enterprises, yet it has never lost its name, its people who love and defend it, or its right to exist as a state.

Proponents of expansionist state projects attempt to deny Bosnia and Herzegovina its right to exist.

They often attempt, without foundation, to interpret the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination.

The United Nations General Assembly has established that the right to self-determination must never be understood as authorizing or encouraging activities that would threaten, in whole or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of states.

Those who sought to destroy Bosnia and Herzegovina acted in various ways with the aim of eliminating our state.

They attempted through brutal aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina—and failed.

They carried out joint criminal enterprises—and were defeated again.

They committed genocide against Bosniaks, yet they did not achieve their criminal objectives.

In the post-Dayton decades, they have tried to block and obstruct the state, but Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to move forward. Step by step, but forward.

In the coming period, one of the key tasks is the protection of the sovereignty of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There is no such thing as “entity sovereignty,” and such an unfounded thesis has no legal basis in the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or international law.

Unfortunately, the sovereignty of our state is under siege by ethnopolitics.

Let us not forget: Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 177th member of the United Nations. Only the state possesses sovereignty. The attempt to “lower” state sovereignty to ethnic groups, with the aim of nullifying the sovereignty of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state, is absolutely unacceptable.

We must not allow ethnopolitics to weaken the sovereignty of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and turn it into ethnic-religious bargaining over state sovereignty.

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, the narrative of an “agreement of peoples” is particularly dangerous.

In the 21st century, leaders of peoples must not negotiate as if states and their institutions do not exist.

Let us tell the people the truth: behind the narrative of an “agreement of peoples” lies a great deception. It is an attempt to deny the nation-state and the citizens who live in it. This must never be allowed.

In the 21st century, no mono-ethnic assemblies of peoples can replace the role of states and state institutions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries of the region must build good interstate relations, not partial interethnic arrangements. That is why it is very important to respect this unavoidable fact in communication with other states.

It is important to distinguish the legal-political dimension of relations between independent and sovereign states from the cultural-historical and ethno-religious dimension of cooperation among peoples in different states.

It is time for everyone in the region to abandon medieval models and open a new era of equal interstate cooperation appropriate to the 21st century.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The preservation and development of the homeland are the foremost obligations of us all.

Only that state policy is justified and responsible which unites and strengthens all democratic forces ready to defend and affirm the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We must show strength, knowledge, readiness, and political maturity to gather all people under the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As never before, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs the ability to unite, connect, and direct various political actors toward a common goal—a democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina integrated into NATO and the EU.

We strengthen the independence and sovereignty of the state by working on Euro-Atlantic and European integration.

These integrations are not the choice of an individual; they are the strategic choice and interest of the state and all its citizens and peoples.

A functional Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a threat to anyone; it is the only guarantee of security and progress for all.

Bosnia and Herzegovina must continue to achieve victories on the international stage.

The adopted Resolution on the Genocide in Srebrenica, as well as the “Srebrenica Flower” monument in front of the UN headquarters, are proof that we can prevail.

They demonstrate that we know how to:

- design a successful strategy,

- select capable people,

- have an implementation plan,

- and then take concrete action on the highest global stage.