Legendary Iron Maiden frontman: I share the award with the citizens of Sarajevo who survived the siege

(Patria) - Bruce Dickinson, the legendary frontman of the British band ''Iron Maiden'', was presented with the ''Honorary Citizen of the City of Sarajevo'' award today at Sarajevo City Hall. He consciously survived the ordeal to come to besieged Sarajevo more than two decades ago and perform a concert at the Bosnian Cultural Center.

"It's incredible that I've come here after 25 years and how much my visit actually means to the citizens of Sarajevo. I am extremely pleased to have received this symbolic award. I would like to share it with the citizens of Sarajevo who survived the siege and who were there during the war. With the people who are currently in this room. This is truly a great honor," said Dickinson, writes the Patria news agency.

The "Honorary Citizen of Sarajevo" award was presented to Dickinson by the Mayor of Sarajevo, Abdulah Skaka.

"Bruce Dickinson's arrival in 1994 was actually the moment when we knew we would survive, that Sarajevo would survive, and that Bosnia and Herzegovina would survive. I am glad that we have formalized this act and that we have presented this award, although it is only a symbol of what the citizens of Sarajevo feel in their hearts," said Skaka.

Dickinson arrived in Sarajevo last night to attend the event organized to mark Sarajevo City Day.

In his autobiography Bruce Dickinson: What Does This Button Do?, published in 2017, Dickinson revealed stories about his upbringing in Great Britain, the band's rapid rise, and dedicated a part of his autobiography to his visit to besieged Sarajevo.

Dickinson describes his experiences in Sarajevo on nine pages of the book. "What happened was nowhere near what was supposed to happen. What happened changed the way I look at life, death, other people – and traffic lights," Dickinson wrote about his performance in wartime Sarajevo.

Dickinson also dedicated the song "Inertia" to Bosnia and Herzegovina, released in 1996 on his album Skunkworks.

The siege of Sarajevo was one of the longest sieges in the history of modern warfare and the longest siege of a capital city ever. It lasted 44 months, from 1992 to 1996, which is three times longer than the siege of Stalingrad. On average, 329 projectiles were fired at Sarajevo daily. 11,541 civilians were killed, died of hunger, cold, or went missing in the city, including 1,601 children.

Due to the siege of Sarajevo and the terrorization of its citizens, Radovan Karadžić, the first president of Republika Srpska, an entity in BiH, then General Ratko Mladić of the Army of Republika Srpska, as well as other political and military officials of that entity, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Court in The Hague.