11th Anniversary of the Reconstruction of the Old Bridge: Peace Award Presented to Čović, Izetbegović, and Ivanić

Organized by the Center for Peace and Multiethnic Cooperation, the 11th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Old Bridge was marked in Mostar. The ceremony was attended by members of the BiH Presidency, as well as numerous high-ranking guests and citizens of Mostar, reports the Patria news agency.

The ceremonial part of the program began with the three members of the BiH Presidency crossing the Old Bridge, accompanied by drums, after which a dive into the Neretva River was performed in their honor. For all those gathered, the composition of the song “Emina” was played, performed on the trumpet by a member of the Mostar Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Bevanda.

The ceremony continued at the restaurant "Labirint" with the screening of the documentary film “The Old Bridge – A Monument to Peace.” Afterwards, the members of the BiH Presidency were awarded the highest recognition of the “Center for Peace” – the international peace award “Mostar Peace Connection.”

In addition to the members of the BiH Presidency, the award was posthumously presented to the former President of the Republic of Turkey, Suleyman Demirel, and the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Ivica Račan, as individuals who contributed through their actions to the reconstruction and construction of the Old Bridge.

On behalf of the late Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Račan, the award ceremony was attended by the Croatian Ambassador to BiH, Ivan Del Vechio, and the award was received by Račan's wife, Dijana Pleština. The award on behalf of the late President of the Republic of Turkey was received by the Embassy of this country in BiH, i.e., the Turkish consul in Mostar.

Čović and Oručević: Mostar the Only Multiethnic City

In addressing the guests, the director of the Center for Peace, Safet Oručević, stated that several facts regarding Mostar must not be forgotten.

-There is no city in the world that experienced such a brutal war as Mostar did, and which turned into the fastest peace. In 1993, Mostar was experiencing horror, and only a year later, the fastest peace occurred. In 1994, the presidents of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, Alija Izetbegović and Franjo Tuđman, crossed the Bridge. Then began a painstaking effort, every day, against those who were destroying peace. The example of Mostar also shows the model by which only a sincerely extended hand and the goodwill of people working on it result in reconciliation. We often hear how Mostar is a case city.

Mostar is not a case city. Mostar is the only and largest multiethnic city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is only a case city in a case state. Mostar is waiting for the most important issues in the state to be resolved. Mayor Bešlić is not to blame for having two electric power companies, two postal services, two schools under one roof. Politicians must resolve this, and that is why the members of the Presidency face an extremely important task that they will have to resolve during their mandate.

All of you here are Builders of Peace, who helped us place stone by stone, gave us strength and support, through your deeds and behavior, to reach a moment like this, to experience beautiful moments of peace under such a brutally destroyed Bridge and after such a war. What else to leave to the generations after us if not the formula for building peace. Only reconciliation, forgiveness, and compassion for all victims in this country. Only then will we surely make faster progress. During my work, I received full support from these people who will receive the award of the Center for Peace, said Oručević. 

Those present were then addressed by the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Dragan Čović, who thanked the Center for Peace, which, as he says, has been trying to build a special atmosphere in Mostar for about 10 years. 

-I am deeply convinced that the time of war, the time of that terrible war, especially here in Mostar as Safet said, although others will say it was like that in all parts of BiH, that is true, we each experienced it in our own way. I am convinced that today I can say something that might irritate some. Safet loves this city, probably more than anyone in the world. And so do many of us gathered here, from our mayor onwards.

I do not recognize anyone, absolutely anyone, as loving this city more than me. The war was an opportunity to separate people from beasts. The war was an opportunity to show how human we are in the true sense of the word. Some succeeded more, some less. Some remained trapped in that darkness, so we will not even mention them as such, said Čović, as announced by the Center for Peace.

Award „BUILDER OF PEACE“

This year's laureates of the „BUILDER OF PEACE“ award were posthumously honored - Prof. Dr. Radovan Ivančević from Zagreb, Prof. Dr. Milan Gojković from Belgrade, engineer Josip Šilić from Zagreb, Ratko Pejanović, director Sulejman Kupusović.

 “BUILDERS OF PEACE“ were also awarded to Željana Zovko, Siniša Šešum, Đelo Jusić, Fr. Iko Skoko, Erna Cipra, Florijan Mićković, Gojko Berić, Omer Karabeg, Ivan Lovrenović, Martina Mlinarević – Sopta, Josip Muselimović, Milan Jovičić, Gradimir Gojer, Zdravko Grebo, and Roko Markovina.