Parties condemn Ugljanin's inflammatory rhetoric

NOVI PAZAR - The speech by Sulejman Ugljanin, leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) of Sandzak and chairman of the Bosniak National Council (BNV), in which he called Serbia "a chauvinistic country", claiming that it is carrying out violence and discrimination against Bosniaks, has been met with strong condemnation from officials and certain political parties, primarily other parties bringing together Bosniaks in this area.

Ugljanin gave the contentious speech at a protest in Novi Pazar, southwestern Serbia, on February 20, during which his supporters carried a banner "Sandzak-autonomy" .

"We want to turn the chauvinistic country called Serbia into a democratic, modern, European state," he said.

Ugljanin called on Bosniaks to resolve problems through institutions and the parliament, saying that if need be, he would ask for "NATO's assistance to come and protect Bosniaks".

"Such accusations can only be uttered by someone who is a chauvinist or hypocrite, or both," said Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic, himself a Bosniak from Novi Pazar, who leads the Social-Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS).

He pointed to the fact that only several months earlier Ugljanin had been a member of the government, and that at the time of the protest in Novi Pazar, SDA of Sandzak vice president and president of the municipality of Tutin Semsudin Kucevic asked at the government meeting for funds for construction of roads in that Bosniak-majority municipality.

He said that for the activities aimed at preserving the Bosniak identity, the BNV gets EUR 20,000 on a monthly level, and posed a question as to why he takes that money if he thinks that Serbia is a...