© KEYSTONE/AP/Armin Durgut
Sarajevo commemorated on Tuesday the 30th anniversary of the beginning of its siege by the Bosnian Serb forces which had marked the spirits throughout the world. She had a thought for the victims of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
At the beginning of a conference devoted to the resistance of the inhabitants of Sarajevo during 44 months of siege (1992-1996), a minute of silence was observed in tribute to the victims of the Bosnian war and “innocent civilians killed in Ukraine”. .
“What had not been stopped in the 1990s in Bosnia is becoming even more visible across Europe and the world”, lamented the mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, during the ceremony organized in the National Library, symbol of the destruction committed during the siege, now rebuilt.
More than 11,500 people, including 1,600 children and adolescents, were killed and more than 50,000 people were injured in Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces. From the heights of Sarajevo, they bombarded the capital, whose 360,000 inhabitants were trapped.
“Human Dishonor”
“What was once thought to belong to the history of human dishonor comes back to the scene through brutality, destruction and fascist ideology dressed in new clothes,” added Ms Karic, who was one year old on April 5, 1992. The siege of the Bosnian capital had turned the world upside down.
Today, the discovery, following the withdrawal of Russian troops, of many corpses in the Ukrainian city of Boutcha, also causes a global shock wave.
Speaking of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital’s mayor also seemed to be looking for words of encouragement for beleaguered Ukrainian cities. “From this city, symbol of resistance, we say that we must never lose hope and give up the fight for a better future,” she said.
And to add: “Abandoned by almost everyone, without weapons, without electricity, without water, without food, without gas, Sarajevo has never surrendered”. The inter-community war in Bosnia left nearly 100,000 dead.