The Minister for Veteran Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Omer Osmanović, said that May 2, 1992 was a beautiful and sunny day, just like today.
– Instead of rejoicing with our families, we had to defend the city, defend the Presidency, defend Bosnia and Herzegovina. A terrorist organization called the JNA sent its best special forces to conquer the Presidency and thus to stage a coup d’état and take over power. However, brave special police officers and patriots led by the Green Berets, the Territorial Defense, the Patriotic League, together we defended the Presidency, defended the city – said Osmanović.
We didn’t agree, he pointed out, to be victims, “which someone asked us to do, just as in the post-war period with revisionist politics they ask and constantly say that we made some sacrifices”.
– No, we chose to be heroes. On the second of May, we decided to be heroes. 1,503 martyrs lie here because they decided to be heroes, and 11,541 of our fellow citizens are not with us today because they decided to be heroes. No judgments for terrorists, no judgments for criminals. In those years, they wrote and drew maps, and they still draw them today. However, when we showed our steel heart then, surely even today generations, led by new young heroes, new young patriots, will defend and know how to build a new Bosnia and Herzegovina, which belongs to the European Union, which is a member of the NATO alliance – said Osmanović.
The Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk stated that the battle for the defense of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most important battles that took place in the last aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Probably, if it wasn’t for her, maybe we wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk about this period in this way at this moment. What is important for me and for all Bosnians and Herzegovinans, is that we remember May 2, because it is not just that battle, it was the beginning of the siege, the longest in modern history, the siege of a city, the terrorizing of citizens and in the end the victory of all those citizens in 1995 – said Uk.
Our obligation today, he added, both as an institution and as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is to do our job in the best way, to build these institutions, strengthen them, to improve health, infrastructure, education…
The delegations paid their respects and laid flowers at the “Lion” Cemetery, the “Stadion” Cemetery, the Central Memorial to the Martyrs and Fallen Fighters of Novi Grad (in front of the Novi Grad Municipality building), and will also do so at the Vlakovo Cemetery, in the Alley of Veterans.
(Vijesti.ba / Fena)
