[Salih] Some people proclaimed themselves
the guardians of Islam, original Islam
[Darko] The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
was a turning point in the growth of global jihad
[Darko] They began to assert their Islamic-Muslim identity
[Darko] And from that moment,
they replaced both communism or socialism,
and 'Yugoslovenism' with Islam
[Jevad] As a result, all of BiH,
where Muslims live, entered a 'one place' idea,
where the Mujahideen would be based
[Jevad] So Wahhabi communities emerged, and parallel jamaats were created
[Milorad] What worries us is the total radicalisation of the Bosniak youth
[Milorad] They promote a narrative that allows the killing of Serbs
[Milorad] So, part of Bosnia and Herzegovina
actually became a kind of military base for radical Islam,
which threatens the region. Firstly, its neighbours, Serbs, Croats,
and then the entire European continent
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: 'EUROPEAN JIHAD'
[Dušan Šehovac, President, “Truth and Justice’ Association, East Sarajevo]
[Dušan] We're on Ilidza
[Dušan] It's built-up street containing numerous buildings and offices
and restaurants serving Arab cuisine
[Dušan] There are also agencies that serve visiting foreigners,
[Dušan] These people are mainly Arabs
[Dušan] There are also some construction companies here
[Dušan] They buy land and build new facilities,
such as the resort in Osjenik
[Dušan] Local travel agencies focus mainly on car rental and accommodation,
as well as organising excursions to famous Islamic sites in BiH
[Dušan] This is an Arabic restaurant, there are many of them on this street
[Dušan] And these advertisements are for 'land for sale' in Sarajevo
[Milorad Kojić, Director, Republic Centre for War and Crimes Investigations and Search for Missing Persons]
[Milorad] When speaking with any Bosniaks,
with normal people, even they fear the population's radical element
[Milorad] They say that when they walk through Sarajevo,
it's not the Sarajevo they knew
[Milorad] Today in Sarajevo, those professing this radical faith
have longer beards and shorter trousers
[Milorad] Women wrap up, with no opportunity to live normal lives
that meet their needs. They're forced to go like that,
because it's considered correct
[Milorad] Today, in Sarajevo, their numbers are growing
[Milorad] There are also normal believers of traditional Islam,
not radicals, just like us Orthodox Christians. We're not in any sects
[Milorad] Normal Bosniaks fear them
[Milorad] They're afraid, for their kids' future
[Milorad] Sadly, their fear is not in vain,
because this trend gains momentum year by year,
and their numbers are always growing
[Milorad] What worries us is the total radicalisation of Bosniak youth,
which often shows itself on social networks and other media
[Milorad] They promote a narrative that permits killing Serbs,
and talk of the need to create an Islamic state,
in which non-believers will be targets
[Milorad] Muslims and Bosniaks, who don't support this radical ideology,
are also called non-believers, and targeted
[Jevad Galiyashevich, Social Relations and Counter-Terrorism Expert]
[Jevad] This distortion of Islam occurred under the primary Islamic duty
[Jevad] It was when Yusuf al-Qaradawi, from the 'Muslim Brotherhood',
gave believers a dilemma:
how to testify about God and his Messenger?
[Jevad] Maybe with words? Maybe with your heart?
[Jevad] Maybe with your actions? With your own property?
[Jevad] Or maybe with a life, yours or someone else's?
[Jevad] That was when al-Qaradawi, for the first time,
brought Islam the idea that you can only truly testify
about God and his Messenger by sacrificing your own life,
or even by sacrificing someone else's
[Jevad] It was that distortion of the 1st Islamic duty,
'Kalima Shahadat', that led to such ugly ideas, thoughts and concepts,
like the term, civilisational jihad
[Dr. Mitar Kovač, Retired Major-General, Director, Eurasian Security Forum] Civilisational jihad mostly refers to the engagement of people,
or the use, actually abuse, of religion in recent crises,
wars, armed conflicts, and civil wars
[Dr. Mitar] For Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ideology of jihad
was a major factor in provoking civil war in the country
MUJAHIDEEN-FILMED VIDEO
[Salih Selimović, Historian, Professor, Publicist from Senica]
[Salih] Some people proclaimed themselves guardians of Islam,
of original Islam, and they began to attract
others, supposedly to 'save' original Islam
[Darko Tanasković, Easter Studies Specialist, Diplomat]
[Darko] These fighters, known widely in Islamist circles as Afghanis,
saw themselves as the vanguard of jihad in the Muslim world
[Darko] Later, both in BiH, and on other global jihad battlefields,
they were there, and kind of represented elite combat bodies,
which influenced the creation of similar bodies in these countries,
more precisely, in BiH
[Dr. Predrag Ćeranić, Dean, Security Science Department, Banja Luka University]
[Dr. Predrag] Jacques Klein, who was here...
was American, the most influential American of the time,
and this was the period after the war, from 1995 to 2000
[Dr. Predrag] He said publicly that...
after the Soviet-Afghan war
the Americans took all radicals and foreign fighters to BiH,
to be kept in one place and under surveillance
[Dr. Predrag] He publicly admitted that America brought everyone who'd fought
from Afghanistan to BiH to have them in one place
so they could be controlled more easily
[Milorad] It's such savagery
The 'El Mujahid' detachment of fighters
didn't come here on their own. They were part of a specific project
[Milorad] A significant number, as soon as they arrived,
were given BiH citizenship
[Milorad] To become a citizen of any country,
you must spend a good amount of time there,
and not be involved in any criminal or illegal activity
[Milorad] But they got citizenship just like that with 1 purpose:
to come and commit crimes, kill Serbs and contribute to the cause
[Dr. Predrag] The prohibited ideas of radical Islam that came to BiH
originated in Saudi Arabia and Qatar
[Dr. Predrag] It already had an international vision
and confirms the desire to spread radical Islam in Europe...
with one ultimate goal: to create a new Caliphate
[Salih] This radical Islam recently appeared in the Balkans
[Salih] Before, there was a group called the 'Muslim Brotherhood'
[Salih] They appeared here before WW2
[Salih] The war stopped their activities
in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia, especially in BiH
[Salih] Nevertheless, after the war, they somehow regrouped,
but communist Yugoslavia successfully neutralised them
[Salih] Then Alija Izetbegovic appeared
with his 'Islamic Declaration', which he promoted strongly
[Salih] It harmed Muslims as it caused a conflict that hadn’t existed here before
[Jevad] Alija Izetbegovic joined the group in 1943
and became the strongest proponent of radical Islam,
and the idea of political Islamisation of Bosnian Muslims
[Jevad] Sadly, among Bosnian Muslims, Nazi ideas are stronger than Islam's
[Jevad] They want us to treat them as radical Islamists,
but, in fact, they're radical Nazis using Islam as a Muslim facade
[Jevad] Today, passing through this part of BiH,
you see statues of Izetbegovic, streets and squares named after him,
hundreds of sights are named after Alija Izetbegovic
[Jevad] And everyone knows he was a convicted Nazi collaborator,
so it's obvious his name should never be glorified
[Jevad] That leads to the understanding that the nazification process
wasn't only carried out in Ukraine and some Western countries,
but systematically in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well
[Darko] But when a threat of war appeared in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
there was rapid radicalisation among Muslims
[Darko] They began to assert their primary Islamic-Muslim identity,
and simply sought to distinguish themselves
from both Serbs and Croats
[Darko] From that moment, they actually replaced communism,
that is, socialism, and 'Yugoslovenism' with Islam,
or belonging to an Islamic identity
[Jevad] Radical Islam is always political
[Jevad] When we talk of Islamism, of political Islam,
we're not talking about religion,
but about a political concept with influence in the Islamic world,
masquerading as the religion Islam, masquerading as teaching,
but in fact it forces Muslims to commit bad deeds:
to kill other nations,
and ritually slaughter and murder other peoples,
in the name of their faith
[Jevad] Radical Islam in BiH has a name, the 'Muslim Brotherhood'
[Jevad] It creates a platform for terrorist organisations
to use pure political force and brutal violence to implement
certain political ideas. That's how Al-Qaeda and 'Islamic State' were born
[Jevad] So, part of Bosnia and Herzegovina
actually became a kind of military base for radical Islam,
which directly threatens the region
[Jevad] Firstly, its neighbours, Serbs, Croats, Christians,
then it threatens the whole European continent
[Neđo Vlaki, Former Officer, State Security Service, Yugoslavia. Officer, National Security Service, Republika Srpska]
[Neđo] We're in Nemile, a village near the city of Zenica,
where vast numbers of Mujahideen came at the beginning of the war
[Neđo] They came to Islamise Bosnia and Herzegovina
at the invitation of the leaders of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA)
[Neđo] Its core consisted of former 'Young Muslims' members
not satisfied with the level of islamisation
[Neđo] So, although they didn't need more forces
in the form of volunteers from Islamic countries
they decided, for other ideological and religious reasons,
to invite foreign Islamist fighters
[Neđo] They came in an organised way from
[Neđo] Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa
[Neđo] They found a home here and despite different ideological views,
they came under one command and with the same goal
[Neđo] Their biggest base was in Zenica
[Neđo] From there they sent smaller groups to fight
[Neđo] After the end of the war, under the Dayton Accords,
they all had to leave BiH,
[Neđo] But they stayed for various reasons
[Dr. Predrag] To explain what 'parajamaat' is, we must first define jamaat
[Dr. Predrag] It's an area where Muslims live,
and practices their religion
[Dr. Predrag] In Orthodox Christianity, my faith, it's like church diocese
[Dr. Predrag] What church community represents for Orthodox Christians,
jamaat represents for Muslims
[Dr. Predrag] So we're talking about an area, a community or part of a city,
where Muslims gather in religious buildings, a mosque or a majlis
[Dr. Predrag] Parajamaats… why 'parajamaats' and not 'jamaats'?
[Dr. Predrag] Because they don't belong to the official Islamic religious community
[Elena Guskova, Director, Centre for The Study of the Contemporary Balkan Crisis, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences]
[Elena] No journalist from any country can go in
[Elena] Any attempt is stopped quickly
[Elena] Our journalists told me they tried to enter a village
to film and show the world what was happening there
[Elena] But they weren't just stopped they had to be liquidated too
[Elena] If they'd taken pictures of such villages even from the outside
[Elena] Fortunately, no material was found and the journalists were released
[Elena] But this fear has lingered among journalists to this day
[Elena] And they talk about it
[Elena] So these places are very dangerous not only for Bosnia and Herzegovina,
but for the whole world,
because it's where radicalism flourishes, strengthens and spreads
[Jevad] Parallel jamaats aren't just a real threat to Bosnian Muslims
in terms of identity and religion, but also a serious threat
to the security of Christians in Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Jevad] It's not just a regional security threat, but one for all of Europe
[Neđo] In these enclaves, a very different kind of religion is practiced:
an interpretation of Islam that differs greatly from that
practiced by Bosnian Muslims
[Neđo] Bakir Izetbegovic, of the Party of Democratic Action, recently confirmed this
[Neđo] These Wahhabi elements led to negative consequences in this land,
mainly about coexisting harmoniously
[Neđo] They seek to impose their ideology on local Muslims
[Dr. Aleksandar Mitic, Researcher, Belgrade Institute of International Politics and Economy]
[Dr. Aleksandar] Many Bosnian Muslims, and the Mujahideen are foreign mercenaries,
[Dr. Aleksandar] Islamic foreign mercenaries who were involved…
[Dr. Aleksandar] They were the most notorious Al-Qaeda members
[Dr. Aleksandar] They went from being friends of the US to its enemies
[Dr. Aleksandar] We recall Sheikh Ahmed Omar, who kidnapped and murdered
the Wall Street Journal journalist, Daniel Pearl,
and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the Al-Qaeda press secretary,
one of Osama bin Laden's closest associates
[Dr. Predrag] Today, terrorism is a tool, a weapon, by which the great powers,
the big geopolitical players, seek to realise their goals
[Dr. Predrag] For that, they use terrorists. The West played a key role
in creating the so-called 'Islamic State' in the Middle East
[Dr. Predrag] Arabs, who went to war in BiH with 'El Mujahid' detachment,
furthered their jihad, taking part in both Chechen wars and in Kosovo
[Dr. Predrag] Who could deploy them and ensure security?
only major powers and their secret services
[Jevad] Bosnian Muslims were dubbed, 'European Muslims' for a reason
[Jevad] There is no 'European Islam', it's a meaningless phrase
[Jevad] Islam is one. One source, one book, one message of Muhammad
[Jevad] And there aren't two, three or five Islams!
[Jevad] But when they use the term 'European Islam',
this means that a community considers itself 'European' first
and only then 'Muslim'. That's what Bosnian Muslims are like
[Jevad] They belong first to the West, and then to Islam
[Jevad] They belong to the West not by their commitment to civic values,
but through vassalage, which means they accept and defend
[Jevad] Western geopolitical interests and goals
[Jevad] In this sense, the SDA turned Muslims into servants of the West
[Dr. Predrag] The role of the United Kingdom and the US…
[Dr. Predrag] I have lately and more often used the term 'large corporations'
[Dr. Predrag] I mean multinationals with their own Middle Eastern interests
and that chiefly means acquiring oil assets
[Dr. Predrag] Those corporations are so powerful that
they order their governments to wage wars in the world
[Dr. Predrag] For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to the French,
or in the Middle East for American corporations
[Dr. Predrag] I designate them as 'order givers' for terrorist acts
[Jevad] Many terrorist attacks in schools, the murder of children and hostages,
which occurred in Russia, had direct links to Western intelligence
[Jevad] It was the West that often controlled activities, at least
of the key terror organisations we're talking about,
namely Al-Qaeda, which arose as a result
of the West's need to reconfigure the Islamic world
after the USSR and the Warsaw Pact collapsed
[Jevad] So, 'Islamic State' is a product of Western intelligence
[Jevad] Initially, it had a certain expiry date,
but they decided to keep it
as a way to blackmail certain societies in the West,
using terrorism and assassination
[Dr. Predrag] Western countries' roles and their interests in redrawing
the world's geopolitical map are great
[Dr. Predrag] How was the so-called 'Islamic State' created in the deserts of Syria?
[Dr. Predrag] How and who could give them satellite images,
showing Russian and Syrian Army positions in the Middle East?
[Dr. Predrag] We know who could, who provided them with logistics and training
'Islamic State' was more like an intelligence agency
than a quasi-state. It wasn't structured in regiments as an army,
but in special units that moved fast,
were well informed and inflicted heavy losses on the Syrian Army
[Dr. Predrag] That went on until Russia intervened in Syria
and saved Damascus from falling to the Islamic State
[Dr. Mitar] Politicians call Republika Srpska a problem for BiH,
one that needs to be 'neutralised'
[Dr. Mitar] Republika Srpska is accused of being formed from genocide
[Dr. Mitar] They argue that Muslims will not rest until BiH becomes one entity
[Dr. Mitar] They act as if Republika Srpska was leased to the Serbian people,
as if Serbian people had not lived there from time immemorial,
and so have the right to their own land, their own state,
which at some point, under the Dayton Accords,
became an integral part of the joint state of BiH
[Dr. Predrag] The West falsely believed it could control radical Islam in BiH,
up till the attack on the US embassy, until they were a target
[Dr. Predrag] The British suffered many casualties in BiH,
which they hid from the public
[Dr. Predrag] For example, when high ranking officials come from the UK,
they pay respects to the monument to British soldiers
who died from 1992 to 2006 in Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Dr. Predrag] There are 57 of them
[Dr. Predrag] There's a monument honouring dead British soldiers
near the British Ambassador's residence in BiH
[Jevad] Admittedly, money actually came first from the West
[Jevad] The Third World Relief Agency, TWRA, had already been established
[Jevad] It was founded in Vienna by Dr. Elfatih Hassanein,
who is Sudanese
[Jevad] The West looked at its 1997 costs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
two years after the war,
and saw that over $8 bn was spent to support Bosnian Muslims
[Jevad] In fact, the West invested in creating a terrorist network,
which was meant to serve the West, not just in BiH,
but also beyond its borders
[Jevad] Everything passed through the TWRA agency in Vienna
[Jevad] More than 400 million German marks and almost $200 million
[Dr. Predrag] The current ideology in Bosnia and Herzegovina
aims to create a national Muslim state within the country
[Dr. Predrag] That policy is actively pursued by the Democratic Action Party,
surreptitiously and unofficially
[Dr. Predrag] Publicly, the Party's leaders always talk of the need
for a united multicultural, multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Dr. Predrag] But they really intend to create in Bosnia and Herzegovina
a Bosniak state, a Muslim state, to be ruled by the Bosniaks,
with disdain for the interests of the Serbs and Croats
[Dr. Predrag] It's a policy consistent with certain Western countries’ desires
to create in BiH what Russian planes destroyed in Syria:
an Islamic state
[Jevad] Political Islam is always radical Islam
[Jevad] In BiH, radical Islam has a local name:
Alija Izetbegovic and his party, with 'Muslim Brotherhood' its global name
[Jevad] Radical Islam in BiH has operational and political names:
Al-Qaeda and 'Islamic State',
as well as a criminal name: the 'El Mujahid' detachment
among other terrorist groups that have been there since the 90s
[Dr. Predrag] As political leaders, the Party of Democratic Action
uses political means, relying on US and British embassies' help
in their efforts to undermine Republika Srpska,
and by a 'functional Bosnia and Herzegovina' in Sarajevo,
they mean a BiH without Republika Srpska
[Dr. Predrag] They want to destroy Republika Srpska's political potential,
a goal achieved through various political techniques
[Dr. Predrag] In 2018, we had a series of protests in Banja Luka
[Dr. Predrag] These were attempts at a colour revolution
[Dr. Predrag] The president said publicly that 5 British agents led the protests
[Dr. Predrag] I know that police controlled the arrival of radical Islamists
and then didn't notice them, there weren't any
[Dr. Predrag] It was about manipulating the local population
[Dr. Predrag] The US and especially the UK want to overthrow Milorad Dodik
[Dr. Predrag] They want to unseat his government using colour revolutions
[Dr. Mitar] Izetbegovic himself, as leader of the SDA,
has repeatedly pointed out that if Republika Srpska begins to secede,
initiating the dissolution and collapse of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
it would be countered by any means, even at the cost of war
[Dr. Mitar] There's also information that they keep secret lists
and have armed groups in different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and designate infrastructure, areas and human resources as targets
within Republika Srpska
[Mehmedalija Nuhić, Religious Affairs Expert]
[Mehmedalija] In truth, Bosnian Muslims received little from the West
in the past conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Mehmedalija] Bosnian Muslims didn't benefit
[Mehmedalija] Many protected areas were here, many where Muslims
were allegedly 'protected' from conflict
[Mehmedalija] We know what happened in those conflicts
[Mehmedalija] An undesired conflict took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
just as today between Russia and Ukraine
[Mehmedalija] Today, the West generously gives weapons to Ukraine
to shed as much Russian blood as possible,
regardless of whether it's on the Ukrainian or Russian side
[Mehmedalija] Same as what the West did in the BiH conflict,
designed to shed as much Muslim blood as possible,
which in turn encouraged radicalisation among Muslims
[Mehmedalija] War was the goal by stepping up radicalisation among Muslims
[Mehmedalija] So, it clashed with the Orthodox Serbs who'd lived here for centuries
[Mehmedalija] As part of the South Slavic population is seen by the West
as belonging to the Russian body
[Mehmedalija] Part of the South Slavic population has alienated itself
and no longer belongs to Serbia, to a Russian identity,
but is now part of the West
[Jevad] The ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and Islamism in BiH
or the ideology of radical Islam in BiH
resonate strongly with World War II,
the Third Reich
and the service of Hitler's Nazi ideology
[Jevad] It's a strong ideological matrix that binds Ukrainian nationalists,
and Islamists, who were created
and recruited by the Party of Democratic Action,
and serve Western interests
[Jevad] The West has created favourable conditions
for the revival and reinforcing Nazi ideology
in former communist countries
[Jevad] I believe Bosnian Muslims have been given the role of a vehicle,
to influence the Islamic world on a wider scale
[Jevad] The same role is reserved for the Ukrainian people and state:
to undermine the Orthodox Christian world, and their priority is to destroy
the most important Orthodox country, the bearer of Orthodox identity:
the Russian state and its people
[Dr. Aleksandar] The event in Racak, Kosovo, in 1999, is reminiscent of Bucha
[Dr. Aleksandar] It was a trigger for NATO to start bombing Yugoslavia in 1999
[Dr. Aleksandar] William Walker, head of the OSCE mission,
then also the US ambassador,
arrived at the Pristina press centre
[Dr. Aleksandar] Ambassador Walker started to talk to a journalist, saying:
'Everyone, follow me, as we go to a place called Racak
[Dr. Aleksandar] Something terrible happened there'
[Dr. Aleksandar] The journalists went and saw several bodies,
arranged in a similar way to Bucha
[Dr. Aleksandar] So what happened in Racak reminds me of events in Bucha
[Dr. Aleksandar] The bodies were in a ditch, laid on their sides like a pre-arranged scene
so journalists could shoot impressive, heart breaking footage
[Journalist] It’s hard to find words to say anything about it.
[Journalist] This is about horrendous even that I’ve ever seen; I’ve been to pretty nasty situations.
[Dr. Aleksandar] And it was used by the United States of America
by William Walker, to declare that a crime against humanity had occurred
[Dr. Aleksandar] He used the term, 'crime against humanity'. Why is that important?
[Dr. Aleksandar] Because it was needed for NATO to justify bombing Yugoslavia,
a kind of a code word
[Dr. Aleksandar] That's the similarity between the cases of Racak and Bucha
[Dr. Aleksandar] They're more similar than Srebrenica and Bucha,
but the methods are the same,
the use of trigger events
[Viktor Bezruchenko, Former UN Employee, Deputy Head, International Commission for Investigating the Sufferings of Serbs in Sarajevo, Retired Colonel] If there were war crimes in Srebrenica
and it took the International Tribunal almost 20 years
to work out what really happened and create a huge database of evidence...
[Viktor] For the Bucha case almost none of that has been done
[Viktor] That standard hasn't been achieved
[Viktor] Instead, in my view, there are many fakes
[Viktor] So, in my opinion, talk of genocide in Bucha has no grounds at all
[Milorad] They want new stories so that old stories of genocide
that did take place in history are forgotten
[Milorad] In my opinion, you shouldn't devalue the role and definition of genocide,
as Western countries and the US persistently does
[Milorad] They will certainly continue doing over the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
[Milorad] So they seek to control the Orthodox Christian world
[Milorad] They need the Bosnians as a barrier
against the influence of the Serbian Orthodox people,
who have lived here for centuries
[Milorad] And the Bosniaks also declared themselves as Serbs in the past,
but later, under the 1974 Constitution,
the 'Muslim' category appeared as an ethnic identity option,
they began to define themselves as such
[Milorad] We know that someone must play the victim role
[Milorad] Serbs are meant to play the victim and the West needs us as a barrier
[Milorad] In the event of uncontrolled radicalisation of local Muslims,
threatening to start a new conflict,
we'd be the barrier against radical Muslims heading to Western Europe
[Salih] The West actively seeks to prevent
cooperation between Orthodox Christianity and Islam
[Salih] Because they'd lose their advantageous position
[Salih] The Islamic world is huge and resource rich
[Salih] Just like Russia, which has huge share of the world's resources
[Salih] 2nd place for resources is taken by the Arab world: gas, oil, gold
[Salih] The Islamic world is rich in gold for which Gaddafi paid with his head
[Salih] He proposed a special gold-backed bank,
with gold from various Islamic countries, both African and Arab
[Salih] A gold dinar would've been a threat to the dollar and euro,
non gold-backed currencies. The West has no gold
[Salih] And he paid for it with his head, like Saddam Hussein
[Salih] They fear unity between Christian Orthodoxy and Islam
and will do anything to prevent it
[Jevad] There are many Muslims in BiH who don't like the current politics,
who understand and support the Russian people's just struggle,
and see NATO's malignant role in spreading destabilisation
[Jevad] Many Muslims in BiH see NATO as the mortal enemy of Islam,
and the Americans and British as the worst opponents of Muslim countries
of their independence, how they rule and their political relations
[Jevad] We saw that in the Middle East,
when America and Britain destroyed political systems,
killed leaders, and their families, crucified and cheered
over the dead bodies of Muslim leaders
[Jevad] There are Muslims in BiH who know that Russia offers and gives
great religious freedom and equal rights for Muslims in Russia
[Jevad] For that reason, Muslims are ready to die for their country, for Russia
[Salih] Many Islamic theologians believe the right way is the joint resistance
of Islam and Orthodox Christianity to the collective West,
which is dying
[Salih] The collective West is degrading, socially, economically, politically,
but still has power and its own methods
[Salih] They use certain funds from the World Bank and the IMF as tools
to put pressure on countries that resist, or with money,
the dollar & euro
[Salih] But this won't go on forever
[Salih] Orthodox Christians and Islam are starting to stand side by side
[Salih] The whole Islamic world sided with Russia
[Salih] As it's the only salvation, Russia is salvation
[Salih] People remember Libya, Iraq, Syria
[Salih] But for Russia, Syria would have fallen, and they recall Afghanistan
[Salih] The Islamic world saw that the only way to resist the Western threat
was to work with Russia, and with God's help it will come true
[Elena] Now, in difficult times, the only ones who support us are the Serbs
[Elena] They support us, without any thought, just because we are Russian
[Elena] This love and strong bond between this two peoples is inexplicable
[Elena] There is another very interesting phenomenon, also inexplicable,
especially incomprehensible to representatives of the West
[Elena] When a Russian person comes to Serbia, no matter who they are
a worker, a peasant, a soldier,
a scientist. or a person who does something completely different,
they fall in love with this country, and feel this strong bond deeply,
this joy and love, and want to come back there
[Elena] The diplomats who work here don't want to leave this country
and work somewhere in the UAE. They want to stay
[Elena] And when they retire, they often stay on
[Elena] I observed this phenomenon even in very difficult years,
when there was nothing to look at
[Elena] After 1999, the buildings were destroyed, dirty and faded facades
[Elena] A Russian man stands in the middle of the street and says:
[Elena] 'How I love all this!' Why? Impossible to explain!
[Elena] They want to know whether Russia knows
the strength of the Serbs' support
[Jevad] Wasn't it Russia that prevented the coup in Türkiye?
[Jevad] Didn't Russia save the head of Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
his family, his son, his relatives, his most important associates?
[Jevad] Russia prevented US attacks against Iran,
which Israel constantly encourages them to do
[Jevad] Russia saved Iran
[Jevad] Russia came to Syria to protect the Syrian people,
after the US government and NATO launched brutal operations
that killed half a million Syrians,
half a million Arabs belonging to the Syrian people
[Jevad] Russia has created mechanisms to protect the Syrian people,
and organise a new political and social life in a safe environment
[Jevad] Russia is Syria's guarantee of security
[Jevad] Russia has never taken a single hostile step towards Saudi Arabia
[Jevad] Russia didn't allow conflicts to take place,
and practically everyone knows it
[Jevad] Everyone knows the attitude of Russia towards
[Jevad] 35 million Muslims living in Russia
[Jevad] Europe's largest mosque is there
[Jevad] Russia must use its clout at an operational level
on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and help the Bosnian Muslims get out of this captivity,
into which they were driven by a NATO pact
and their slavish obedience to the 'Muslim Brotherhood'
as a result of the Party of Democratic Action's policies
[Dr. Goran Latinović, Professor, Banja Luka University]
[Dr. Goran] The strong connection between Russians and Serbs
dates back to the Middle Ages
[Dr. Goran] Honouring strong Russo-Serb relations, co-operating in politics,
a military-strategic alliance, culture etc.
[Dr. Goran] A Russian-Serbian church honours this
[Dr. Goran] In 2018, Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov visited Banja Luka
[Dr. Goran] During his visit, it was agreed that
the Republika Srpska government,
with the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy would invest in facade works
[Dr. Goran] The Russian government and Orthodox Church
the harder and expensive interior works
[Dr. Goran] It's dedicated to all who made a significant contribution
to cementing Serbian-Russian relations,
and worked to strengthen mutual assistance,
to Russian volunteers who fought with Serbs in the liberation wars
[Dr. Goran] And it's firstly dedicated to Tsar Nicholas II, who sacrificed himself
for the Serbian people in the First World War
[Mehmedalija] Man prefers relationships based on peace and cooperation
with those around him, where people support each other
rather than conflict, quarrels and no prospect of living together
[Elena] In my view, Serbs wish for very close relations with Russia
[Elena] Since the 1990s, many factions have talked and dreamt of it,
and of taking concrete steps in that direction
[Elena] And there was even talk of unifying Serbia with Russia under Milosevic
[Elena] The vital thing for Serbs is for Russia to win
[Elena] They're convinced of it and there can be no doubt about it
[Elena] And, when Russia attracts world interest in how it won,
how it got on its feet and strengthened its economy,
how it has an independent policy unlike other European countries
and doesn't force any country to follow it
[Elena] Instead, voluntary participation is always welcome
[Elena] In this, our spiritual unity with people like the Serbs will be vital,
because this is the start of building a new world order,
where all are independent and free to choose their own path
[Elena] I believe that the path Russia chooses, and is already following,
will be very attractive, first to Serbs, then to all other peoples
[Salih] We see what's happening: the Islamic world sides with Russia
[Salih] Based on that, I believe the West is approaching its decline
[Salih] After all, the sun also sets in the west