Sarajevo, 27 May 2022 (TDI): UK’s Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality, Liz Truss, and Mayor of the City of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karić paid respects to the hundreds of children killed in the siege of Sarajevo.
In line with this, Truss also stated further that the horrors of the conflict that happened should never be repeated.
I paid respects to the hundreds of children killed in the siege of Sarajevo with the inspiring Mayor @BenjaminaKaric, a child herself at the time of the siege.
The horrors of the conflict here must never be repeated. pic.twitter.com/PyWSAIxOc2
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) May 26, 2022
The siege of Sarajevo
When the EU acknowledged the independence of Croatia and Slovenia on January 15, 1992, it needed a referendum for the independence of Bosnia-Herzegovina and it responded in a positive manner.
However, the Bosnian Serbs made a decision to boycott the referendum as a way of making it invalid.
In spite of all this, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia after the referendum on March 1, 1992.
In a short time, on April 5th, the Serbian troops besieged Sarajevo. Thereby, the siege began a bloody war that continued for almost four years.
Thus, the siege of Bosnia’s capital city began in April 1992. The city was under sniper attacks and daily shelling from the Serb nationalist forces.
In line with this, the city was surrounded by troops and residents faced constant fire from snipers, and it was viewed as the longest blockade of any capital city in modern warfare.
The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina responded by composing 70,000 soldiers. Nonetheless, the defense forces were unable to break the siege due to inadequate equipment.
After the siege of Sarajevo, the war extended across the country and many people left their homes, and lives lost totaled more than 11,000.
The war ended on November 21, 1995, as Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian parties reached an agreement in Ohio, the US.
Due to the initiative of US diplomat Richard Hallbrooke, Alija Izetbegovic, first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then presidents of Serbia and Croatia, Slobodan Milosevic and Franjo Tudjman, respectively signed the Dayton peace agreement.
Moreover, Sarajevo was ultimately liberated with the international community’s assistance and left many with haunting memories and tragedies
