25 November: Statehood Day of BiH

Communist Party activist and later People's
Hero of Yugoslavia Rada Vranjesevic
speaking at ZAVNOBiH.
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Today, November 25, is celebrated as Statehood Day in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It is on this day in 1943 that the Anti-Fascist Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ZAVNOBiH) adopted a resolution declaring Bosnia and Herzegovina an equal community of Serbs, Muslims and Croats.

Serbians reject the historical importance of this event, arguing that the date of November 21 is more apt as a national celebration, as this is when the Dayton Peace agreement was signed (in 1995), thus allowing for the establishment of the Republika Srpska entity. Because of this, today's date is not celebrated by Serbians in BiH.

So, it is perhaps for this reason that an amusing gag is currently doing the rounds on the Internet at the moment. (Well, it raised a laugh or two from me.)

Here it is, in English (NB: You will need to know that 'coffee' in: Bosnian - 'kahva'; Serbian - 'kafa'; Croatian - 'kava'!):

69 years ago, three people sat down for coffee and agreed to jointly build the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and everyone lived good for the next 50 years. That same decision in 1992 allowed BiH to receive international recognition. Today those same three people cannot agree on anything because one insists to drink 'kahva', the second 'kafa' and the third 'kava'. Happy Statehood Day to everyone who drinks tea!

Hope you chuckled at least a tad .. I told you, I did!

Anyway, if you care about it, Happy Statehood Day!