Bosniac National Council

Bosniac National Council

Bošnjačko nacionalno vijeće Бошњачко национално вијеће
Abbreviation	BNV
Formation	11 May 1991 (1991-05-11)
Founder	Sulejman Ugljanin
Founded at	Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Type	Political organisation
Headquarters	Novi Pazar, Serbia
Official language	Bosnian and Serbian
President	Sulejman Ugljanin
Vice Presidents	Muhedin Fijuljanin Esad Džudžo Redžep Škrijelj Vasvija Gusinac
President of the Executive Committee	Hasim Mekić
Secretary	Ahmedin Škrijelj
Website	www.bnv.org.rs
Formerly called	Muslim National Council of Sandžak (1991–96) Bosniac National Council of Sandžak (1996–03)

The Bosniac National Council (Serbo-Croatian: Bošnjačko nacionalno vijeće, Бошњачко национално вијеће) is a representative body of the Bosniak national minority in Serbia. It was founded as the Muslim National Council of Sandžak (MNVS) on 11 May 1991. Its first and current president is Sulejman Ugljanin. Until 2003, the Bosniac National Council was called the Bosniac National Council of Sandžak (BNVS), after which it took its current name.

Throughout the 1990s, it actively sought autonomy for the Sandžak region and its eventual unification with the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following Montenegro's independence in 2006, it remained active only in Serbia.

The Bosniac National Council has 35 seats, while the representatives are being elected at the elections for the national councils of various recognised national minorities in Serbia. The last election was held in October 2014, in which most of seats were won by the Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak, led by Sulejman Ugljanin.

The Muslim National Council of Sandžak (Serbo-Croatian: Muslimansko nacionalno vijeće Sandžaka/Муслиманско национално вијеће Санджака; MNVS) was founded in Novi Pazar on 11 May 1991.Sulejman Ugljanin was elected its first president. The MNVS consisted of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (SDAS) and other Bosniak political parties, as well as other associations, the Muslim religious community and non-party individuals.

On 11 May 1991, the MNVS declared that the governments of Serbia and Montenegro were pushing "Greater Serbian ideology" and seeking the "physical extermination" of the Sandžak Muslims so that the land border between Serbs in Serbia and Montenegro could be completely unimpeded. It claimed to be the only legitimate representative of the Sandžak Muslims. The MNVS sought autonomy for the Sandžak should Yugoslavia dissolve and called for Muslims to arm themselves in the case of a civil war. It announced the formation of an assembly, an executive council, public security services and the implementation of the compulsory military service, promising the suspension of every other Yugoslav state body in the case of a dissolution of Yugoslavia or a civil war.