Sarajevo: Delegations lay wreaths at Kovaci cemetery

N1

Delegations representing Sarajevo Canton and the entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina lined up the war veterans and laid wreaths on Wednesday at the Sarajevo cemetery Kovaci, marking the Day of Defence of Sarajevo.

A representative of an association of underage fighters Almir Segalo said on this occasion this was a great day for the association and himself. “Those were the hard days but here we are today, 26 years later, we came to honour our comrades and fallen soldiers,” he said.

The Bosnian war started in early April 1992, and the siege of Sarajevo, known as the longest siege of a capital city in modern history, lasted 1,425 days.

Selmo Cikotic, an advisor to the Bosniak member of Bosnian tripartite Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic, told N1 that the date was crucial in defence of independence and freedom of the country. 

Several events, including the detaining of the first Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, the so-called battle for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and so on, took place on this date 26 years ago. The date is marked every year in Sarajevo i.e. the entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia's entity dominated by Bosniaks and Croats.