When is Statehood Day?
Statehood Day is a public holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 25th each year. This day is generally accepted as the National Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though technically it is a regional holiday in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is one of the two confederal entities.
This holiday commemorates the anniversary of the day in 1943 when Bosnia and Herzegovina was re-established by the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia.
History of Statehood Day
When the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was occupied during the second world war, control was divided between Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria.
The Partisan resistance to the occupiers was led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia who galvanized support from all parts of the nation. In November 1942, the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia was convened by Josip Broz Tito.
The first-ever session of the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the highest political representative body of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was held in Mrkonjić Grad on November 25th and 26th 1943. They elected their representatives to participate in the second Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia in the Bosnian town of Jajce.
At this council meeting, on November 29th a decision was made on how Yugoslavia would operate after the war. There was to be a federal Yugoslavia based on the right of self-determination of the people - Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, and Macedonians - who would live in six constituent republics with equal rights. The council declared Bosnia and Herzegovina to be an equal community of Muslims (Bosniaks), Serbs, and Croats.
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Labor and Social Policy informs the public that the Law on the Proclamation of November 25 as the Statehood Day of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a national holiday, and on that day state bodies, enterprises and other legal entities will not work.
Accordingly, November 25 – Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina is celebrated as a national holiday only one day on the day of the national holiday, and will be a non-working day.
