Authors

Discussion

For the authorities of de facto states, creating and maintaining support among the population at large for the ‘foundational myth’ is a key aspect of selling the de facto state as a bona fide state – and, hence, for securing legitimacy. The paper focuses on national holidays as an arena for commemorating contested statehood by comparing Transnistria, a de facto state which has now managed to preserve its de facto independence for close to 30 years, and Republika Srpska, reintegrated into Bosnia Herzegovina but where memory of de facto statehood is still strong. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, archival resources, news media, and other secondary sources, we analyse the production, form and content of public observance of the foundational myth as manifest in the celebrations of altogether four public holidays: in Transnistria, the Day of the Republic (2 September) and the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland (23 February), and in Republika Srpska, the Day of Republika Srpska (9 January) and the Day of the Army (12 May). Analysing the symbolic, political and performative aspects of the celebrations, we discuss to what extent such staging of statehood bolsters legitimacy through securing adherence to – and identification with – the de facto regime and its institutions.