Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina also marked at the Sarajevo City Hall

(Patria) - Organised by the Sarajevo Canton, the City of Sarajevo, municipalities in the Sarajevo Canton and SABNOR, a ceremonial academy was held this evening at the City Hall on the occasion of 25 November - Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, attended by representatives of political, public, cultural, religious and diplomatic life in BiH.

In his address, Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk congratulated everyone on the eightieth anniversary of the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the eightieth anniversary since the statehood of our country was renewed in Mrkonjić Grad in agreement with the ZAVNOBiH delegates.

This day, Prime Minister Uk emphasised, should be used to remember the foundations on which Bosnian and Herzegovinian statehood was built and to try to draw inspiration from those foundations for thinking about the future of our homeland and our society.

"ZAVNOBiH was a revolutionary act. That event should be no less important to us than what the French Revolution is to the French, what the American Revolution is to Americans. That revolutionary act stemmed from the desire for freedom.

What freedom means for one people, or the peoples of one country, we can witness in the current global events. The right to decide on our own lives and to build our own social atmosphere is one of the most important rights of modern civilisation.

As the right for each of us to be a free citizen, with the right to opinion, stance and action within the framework of the state," said Prime Minister Uk.

Bosnia and Herzegovina from ZAVNOBiH to the present day, added Prime Minister Uk, has experienced a lot - socialism, economic growth, war, ethnic cleansing, genocide, a new internal arrangement, transition, but despite everything it has remained within those frameworks of statehood sealed by ZAVNOBiH.

"It is not today the homeland of only one people, nor is today's holiday a holiday of only one people. It is today, and will always be, the homeland of all its peoples, and ZAVNOBiH will forever be the act when Serbian, Bosniak and Croatian workers, professors, students, lawyers opted to maintain it together and weave it into the then Yugoslav community.

Nevertheless, the current political situation and precisely the statements and actions of politicians worry each of us and pose great challenges for the future of BiH. It is crucial that in our political work, which is equally difficult day by day, we be patient, persistent, maintain faith in Bosnia and Herzegovina, maintain faith in freedom and belonging to the modern world, commit to our people that we are here to help them live a better life.

That we not be selfish, but open, sensitive, think about others as much as about ourselves.
That means the arrival of new trams and trolleybuses in Sarajevo, road construction, better conditions for workers, mothers, pensioners, more affordable housing, better education, persistence in one's independence and stances, and active work on the path to the European Union," stated Prime Minister Uk.

He added that the essence of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies in the sometimes difficult and painful, sometimes most beautiful connection of its peoples and cultures.

"That is why the persistence of the policy and idea is important, woven with the belief that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the home of its people, that is, of all its peoples. A policy that believes BiH belongs to every citizen and person born and living here.

Above all as a homeland, as a street, river, mountain or city that shaped them, as this charming mentality we belong to, but also as a home to which they belong. That is why we also say today, eighty years later from this hall, that Bosnia and Herzegovina is neither Serbian, nor Bosniak, nor Croatian, but both Bosniak, and Serbian, and Croatian, and above all Bosnian and Herzegovinian," concluded Prime Minister Uk.

The ceremonial academy was attended by Mayor Benjamina Karić, ministers in the Government of Sarajevo Canton Omer Osmanović, Darja Softić Kadenić, Adna Mesihović and Enis Hasanović, representatives in the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton Kristina Petrović, Samir Avdić and Davor Čičić.

The artistic part of the programme featured the Women's Ensemble of the Chamber Choir Lola, which performed the musical numbers "Sarajevo na visoku gledu" and "Bentbaša".