Zijad Burgic

BOSNIA, STRUGGLE IS YOUR DESTINY!

All that is written remains; all that is left to memory disappears.
Two thousand years ago it was written that Bato,
the Illyrian leader of the Daesitiates said
after years of brutal and bloody war in the region today known as Bosnia: 

“Instead of shepherds, you have sent us wolves”,
speaking at the great Roman General, Tiberius. 

Many centuries would pass
and many invaders would try their hand at conquering Bosnia.
And each of them would sew a part of their blood, bone, and soul in its soil.
Illyrians, Celts, Goths, Huns, and especially Slavs,
would all weave their threads in the fabric of this diverse land.

Bosnia, struggle is your destiny!

In the year 955,Emperor Constatine VII Porphyrogenitus
marks the first known written record of the existence of Bosnia. 
“The Shepherd's Cause”, from East and West,
washes on the shores of the young Bosnian state.

“I, Kulin, Ban of Bosnia, do promise…”

These words from the Charter of Kulin Ban,
penned in gold by a scribe in 1189,in the Bosnian language witness,
a country and faith that fervent shepherds from both the West and East Churches would try and conquer with most brutal force.

Bosnia, struggle is your destiny!

The Dark Ages. Then, 1463, Turkish conquest in Bosnia. 
The cross and the crescent, great Heavenly symbols, once again opposed.
Centuries… Wars… Ottomans… Hapsburgs… Germans.

The anti-fascist resistance.

After many centuries, the return of Bosnian statehood.
Yet another date written in blood for freedom.

A peaceful Bosnia!?
Or: Bosnia and Herzegovina again questioned from the East and West.
Her people and her faith!

Bosnia, struggle is your destiny!

End of the Second Millennium…
The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina face new historic decisions!
A large majority choose Independence.

“The Bosniak people will not disappear”,
Echoes across Europe and the globe.

But it is not a time for triumph. The years of War… 
Hundreds of thousands killed, wounded, and disabled men, women, and children.
A forced peace. The Bosniaks defiant, and in the peace of Islam, seek to heal.

The Third Millennium. A peaceful Bosnia!?
Or: Europe, World… Bosnia is your destiny!

(Zijad Burgic)