Bosnia Statehood Day is a national holiday celebrated annually on November 25th.
On this day in 1943, the founding meeting of the State Anti-Fascist Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ZAVNOBiH) took place as the military parliament of the republic. The meeting was attended by 274 delegates from all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 173 of them were elected members of ZAVNOBiH. Formally, at its first meeting, ZAVNOBiH established itself as the general political representation of the people's liberation movement of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The ZAVNOBiH Resolution and the Statement to the Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina that Bosnia and Herzegovina and its peoples will only be able to represent ZAVNOBiH and AVNOJ — Anti-Fascist Assembly of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia were adopted. Thus, the determination of the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina was expressed that their republic —, neither Serbian, nor Croatian, nor Muslim, but also Serbian, and Croatian, and Muslim —, will be a fraternal union in which full equality of all Serbs, Muslims and Croats will be guaranteed.
Also selected were 58 representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Second Meeting of AVNOJ and the 31-member Presidium of ZAVNOBiH. A doctor from Bijeljina, Vojislav Kechmanovic, became the Chairman of the Presidium.
The second meeting of AVNOJ took place on November 29 of the same year, where it was decided that the future Yugoslavia — Democratic Federal Yugoslavia — would be built on federal principles, and Bosnia and Herzegovina would become one of six equal republics. These principles, so important for today's Bosnia, were proclaimed on November 25, 1943, which is why this day was subsequently called Statehood Day.
However, today is Statehood Day — one of the « stumbling blocks» between the constituent parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska — does not allow the adoption of a law on holidays at the national level. It is celebrated only in the Federation, since, according to Republika Srpska, this day was chosen for Statehood Day without any special reasons, and Bosnia and Herzegovina arose much earlier than the first meeting of ZAVNOBiH.