Conflict over the City Hall Continues: Ovčina Awaits Court Decision

The court is the competent institution, we respect the legality of the law, we will respect their decision, said Ismet Ovčina, director of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NUB BiH) regarding the decision to be made by the Municipal Court in Sarajevo on the status of NUB BiH.

- We regret that it has come to this, but we had no partner for discussion. Everyone is ignoring us and I think this is the best in this situation – Ovčina told the BiH news agency Patria.

He emphasized that after the opening of the City Hall on May 9, no one from the City Administration, neither Mayor Ivo Komšić nor his deputy Aljoša Čampara, contacted them, which makes the statement they issued even stranger, questioning the relationship of NUB BiH with the City Hall, stating that NUB BiH "recently asked the City for the DPO building at Hamdije Kreševljakovića 3 street for permanent use in exchange for the City Hall, which currently houses the City Council and the Sarajevo City Administration". Ovčina wanted to clarify the situation with the building where the City Administration is currently located.

- During the time of Sarajevo Mayor Semiha Borovac, who insisted that we transfer the right of disposal of the City Hall to them, we submitted a request for the competent authorities to assign that building to NUB BiH for permanent use, for a longer period as a proposal. This was on September 14, 2007, and we received a rejection. We were told then that they did not have disposal over that building, but to submit a request. After that, they wrote a letter to the Council of Ministers asking for the right of disposal to be transferred to the City Administration instead of NUB BiH – says Ovčina for NAP.

Then, according to Ovčina, in 2009, during the time of Sarajevo Mayor Alija Behmen, a decision was made to annul all previous decisions on the allocation of space in the City Hall and to withdraw the request sent to the Council of Ministers regarding the right of disposal from NUB BiH to the City Administration. And to suspend the procedure for changing the user in the land registry extract for the City Hall building. But that's not all. A little over two and a half months ago, discussions took place between NUB BiH and Mayor Ivo Komšić.

- We re-actualized this issue again. He said to write a request for the building assignment, and we will see. We wrote the request again, but there is no response – says Ovčina. He also addressed the part of the statement where NUB BiH is accused of "bureaucratizing the opening of the City Hall for visits and even problematizing the performance of the Vienna Philharmonic on June 28 in the City Hall".

- When something doesn't go according to plan, it's best to blame someone. As for that concert, we are very happy that the concert will take place, and let no one even think of misusing our story and struggle for our status with that part. We expect someone competent, as a representative of all these activities, to ask or consult NUB BiH about something – states Ovčina.

Ovčina told the Patria news agency that they had also contacted the Delegation of the European Union in BiH twice, which is the largest financier of the City Hall's renovation. They sent one letter before the opening, informing the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Peter Sorensen, that they would distance themselves from the activities related to the opening of the City Hall because they were clearly not partners with the City Administration, and not all usage permits had been issued, writes Patria.

- On May 20, we sent another letter in which we informed Sorensen that NUB BiH would have to resort to legal instruments to protect its legal right to dispose of the City Hall, which could also affect the continuation of the renovation works or the use of the City Hall, as the legal representative of NUB BiH will request an urgent court injunction for the security of the object in question – the letter states.

The response they received, according to Ovčina, showed that the EU Delegation would not arbitrate in this case, nor could it, but in their response, they reminded that the Council of Ministers had previously asked the City Administration and NUB BiH to find a solution.

Ovčina said that what hurts them the most is the fact that they were not included in the renovation project for four years, and now someone is "calling them out" and "accusing" them of problematizing things around the City Hall. But Ovčina once again clarified the position of NUB BiH.

- When it comes to plans for dividing the City Hall, we believe that nowhere in the world does an administration and a library exist together, institutions so different in character and levels of government. And that is why we went into this, because in this variant, sharing the space is not practical. Our position was and remains that the City Hall is a symbol of multiculturalism and books as a spiritual achievement that objectively occupies space and time in all civilizations. According to what is in the official documents, this must be respected. We respect the court and the Council of Ministers, because the state is the owner of the City Hall, but we are the user without limitations. We will act in that context – concluded Ovčina.