Bosnian Americans Will Not Lose Bosnian Citizenship

Last Friday, the Constitutional Court of BiH ordered the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to remove the controversial Articles 17 and 39 from the BiH Constitution.  The aforementioned articles in the Law and Citizenship of BiH state that "Citizenship of BiH is lost by the voluntary acquisition of another citizenship, unless a bilateral agreement between BiH and that State, approved by the Parliamentary Assembly in accordance with Article IV (4)(d) of the Constitution provides otherwise." These bilateral agreements, however, provide no remedy for BiH citizens in the United States because the U.S. has formally indicated that it does not intend to enter into such agreements. BAACBH believes that Article 17 and its accompanying provisions have endangered the right of BiH citizens who hold citizenship of another State to retain their BiH citizenship.     

 BAACBH commends member of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegovic, for appealing Articles 17 and 39 in order to ensure that citizens living outside of BiH would not lose their Bosnian citizenship. The war of aggression has displaced approximately 2 million people of whom more than half are living outside of BiH. The United States is home to approximately 300,000 Bosnians Americans who resettled as the result of war. BAACBH is pleased that the Articles were deemed unconstitutional and that the Parliamentary Assembly in BiH was ordered to remove the controversial Articles within the next six months.