Bosnia

Tuesday 25 November Statehood Day in Federation of B&H

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.

Bosnia retirement home fire kills 11, injures dozens | News

Investigators are working to determine cause of the blaze that broke out at facility in Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia.

A fire at a retirement home in northeastern Bosnia has killed at least 11 people and injured about 30 others, officials said.

It remained unclear what caused the blaze, which engulfed the seventh floor of the building in Tuzla, about 80km (50 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, after it broke out on Tuesday evening.

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The fire, which took about an hour to bring under control, sent flames and smoke pouring out of the building into the night sky.

Bosnian media reported that higher floors in the complex were occupied by elderly people who could not move on their own or were ill.

“I had gone to bed when I heard a cracking sound. I don’t know if it was the windows in my room breaking,” resident Ruza Kajic told national broadcaster BHRT on Wednesday.

“I live on the third floor,” she said. “I looked out the window and saw burning material falling from above. I ran out into the hallway. On the upper floors, there are bedridden people.”

Admir Vojnic, who lives near the retirement home, also told the Reuters news agency that he saw “huge flames and smoke, and elderly and helpless people standing outside” the building.

Bystanders watch the scene of a blaze after fire broke out in a nursing home, in the North-Eastern Bosnian city of Tuzla, late on November 4, 2025. (Photo by -STR / AFP)
Bystanders watch the scene of the blaze at the retirement home in Tuzla, November 4, 2025 [STR/AFP]

Investigators were still working to determine the cause of the fire and identify those killed in the blaze, prosecutor spokesperson Admir Arnautovic told reporters.

“The identification of the bodies will take place during the day,” Arnautovic said.

Meanwhile, the retirement home’s director said he had offered his resignation.

“It’s the only human thing to do, the least I can do in this tragedy. My heart goes out to the families of the victims,” Mirsad Bakalovic told the Fena news agency.

“Last night was a truly difficult event, a tragedy not only for the city of Tuzla, but for all of Bosnia.”

Officials from across government in Bosnia and Herzegovina offered their condolences and help to the Tuzla authorities.

“We feel the pain and are always ready to help,” Savo Minic, the prime minister of the country’s autonomous Serb Republic, wrote on X.

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