BIRN lifts the lid on the Bosnian Movement of National Pride, a secretive organisation promoting neo-Nazi Bosniak nationalism.
Emir finally felt comfortable enough to place on the table the sheets of paper he had folded and hid under his jacket. The pages contained promotional material of a far-right organisation he had helped build. Emir, a slight man in his twenties, appeared confident that this reporter did not know his real name; when it became clear he was mistaken, he paused for a moment before describing his experience of joining the ‘Movement’ as a teenager. “I felt powerful in some way,” he said, having agreed to be interviewed on condition his real name would not be published. (…) Founded in 2009, the BPNP was described in 2018 report published by the International Relations Committee of the House of Lords – the upper house of the UK parliament – as a “nationalist and secular organisation whose ideology is underpinned by a belief in the superiority of Bosniaks and a belief that they alone should rule Bosnia and Herzegovina.” The Simon Wiesenthal Centre says it follows a ‘blood and soil’ ideology that aims for a pure Bosniak state based on ‘genetics’. “They are against multiculturalism because it is considered a threat to the survival of “true” Bosnians,” the centre says. “The BPNP stands against Zionism, Islamism, Communism and Capitalism. The movement is strongly homophobic, arguing that homosexuality is destroying society through its threat to ‘family values’.” At first glance, the group’s opposition to ‘Islamism’ might appear odd, given that the vast majority of Bosniaks identify as Muslims. But the group’s members say they characterise ‘Bosniak’ as a person loyal to Bosnia, who speaks the Bosnian language and identifies with the history of Bosnia, regardless of their religion. According to the group’s website, the BPNP “fights for Bosniaks irrespective of their religion and subrace.” More than anything else, it promotes National Socialism, better known as Nazism. (…) Dr. Bethan Johnson, doctoral fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, CARR, a UK-based research centre, said it was interesting that the BPNP would openly embrace a term most groups of a similar ideology hesitate to use, “because it does have a stronger harkening back to Nazis than other terms that might be used to describe people.” The displaying of Nazi symbols is not banned in Bosnia, but BPNP member nevertheless seek to conceal their identities. BIRN journalists identified at least ten current or former members of the organisation, who describe themselves on social media as Skinheads and “members of the Handschar Division,” a reference to a World War Two Nazi SS division composed of mainly Bosniaks, some Croats and ethnic Germans that swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler and fought against Yugoslav communist Partisans.
via balkan insight: Bosnian Far-Right Movement Weds Bosniak Nationalism, Neo-Nazism
