Sarajevo Remembers Serbian Orthodox Wartime Defenders
Flowers were laid in the Bosnian capital at a commemoration of Serbian Orthodox soldiers who fought and died for multi-ethnic Sarajevo.
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| Sarajevo commemoration/Photo by Sarajevo Canton Government |
The Bosnian Army owes a debt to its “Orthodox heroes” who gave their lives for the country’s freedom, said the Sarajevo cantonal government’s deputy minister for former soldiers, Osman Smajlovic.
“Together with all Bosnian patriots, shoulder to shoulder, Orthodox, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and other citizens defended the country with the hope that freedom would arrive soon,” said Smajlovic, who led the memorial at St. Mark’s cemetery on Tuesday which was attended by members of soldiers’ unions.
He added that tolerance and multi-ethnic ideas were “invaluable to the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and should serve as a cornerstone for building a democratic society in the future.
Some 100,000 people lost their lives during the Bosnian conflict from 1992 to 1995, almost 12,000 of them in Sarajevo.