Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina marked in Srebrenica: We will continue to do so in the years to come

(Patria) - By laying flowers and reciting the Fatiha at the cemetery of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center, March 1 - Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina was marked today.

By reciting the Fatiha, as in previous years, tribute was paid to the victims of the genocide, and wreaths were laid at the cemetery.

This was done by members of associations gathering survivors of the genocide, representatives of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, representatives of Bosniaks in local government, children from the HO MFS EMMAUS Srebrenica, the association Dobro.ba, representatives of the SDA Women's Organization, and citizens.

Hamdija Fejzić, President of the Management Board of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, emphasized the importance of marking March 1 - Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Today we are here to mark Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the holiest place. Today, mostly those who have returned and live in Srebrenica are here," Fejzić pointed out and added that even today "we have retrograde policies."

"I will not remind you of the historical context of the importance of March 1 - Independence Day, and everything that has happened in the past 33 years, starting from 1992 and the years that followed, the war period and the final act of aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica. These are lessons we all know, which we have felt on our own skin. What is important to say is that we are here, that we mark our important dates, and that we will continue to do so in the years to come," said Fejzić.

The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina chose the path of independence in a referendum held on February 29 and March 1, 1992. Of the 64 percent of eligible voters who turned out to vote, when asked whether they were for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Muslims, Serbs, Croats, and members of other nations living in it, 99.44 percent voted "yes."