Independence Day ( Bosnian, Croatian and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

: ''Dan nezavisnosti'',

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

: Дан независности) is a public holiday observed in

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...

held on 1 March to celebrate the independence of the then

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Република Босна и Херцеговина) was a state in Southeastern Europe, existing from 1992 to 1995. It is the direct lega ...

from the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

in 1992. It is not observed in

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...

, the other political entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

History

Citizens of the

Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

, a constituent federal state of the

, voted in an independence referendum held between 28 February and 1 March 1992. The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others who live in it?" Independence was strongly favoured by

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

and

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs of Bosnia and H ...

voters, while majority of

Bosnian Serbs The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

boycotted it. Voter turnout was 63.6 percent, of whom 99.7 percent voted for the independence. The results of the referendum were accepted on 6 March by the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 7 April 1992, the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state. The

Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Serbo-Croat-Bosnian: ''Parlament Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine''/Парламент Федерације Босне и Херцеговине) is the bicameral legislature of the Federat ...

(the parliament of the Bosnian–Croat Federation) decided on 28 February 1995 that 1 March would be the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a national holiday. Independence Day was celebrated for the first time on 1 March 1995.

Observance

The Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina is celebrated only in the

, while

boycotts this holiday and celebrates its own Independence Day on 9 January.

Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since November 2022. Previously, he served as the 7th Serb member of the Presidency of Bo ...

, former President of Republika Srpska and current Bosnian Presidency member, has claimed that Independence Day "is a holiday of the Bosniak people and we do not dispute it, but it is not a holiday celebrated in the Republika Srpska (RS)". Most Bosnian Serbs instead associate the date with the 1 March 1992 attack on a Serb wedding procession in Sarajevo which resulted in the death of the groom's father and the wounding of a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous ( ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population ...

priest, whom most Bosnian Serbs consider to have been the first casualties of the Bosnian War.

References

Citation

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Authority control March observances Bosnia and Herzegovina culture 1995 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...