The individual winner of the 6th of April Award in 2025 is the silver Paralympian from Paris and the gold medalist at the European Senior Championship in Portugal, Ismail Barlov, and the collective 6th of April Award of the City of Sarajevo went to the Medical Association BIMA in BiH, a non-governmental association of medical workers that provides health care to the uninsured population, mainly refugees/returnees throughout our country.
The awards were presented to them tonight on the Day of the City of Sarajevo in the City Hall, where a ceremonial session of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo was held.
The “Sarajevo Snowflake” award was given to Nadija Kobilica, a talented and successful athlete in sports climbing, and Farah Onešćuk, multiple state champion, record holder and member of the BiH national shooting team.
Humanist Marij Pejić was posthumously awarded the “Plaque of the City of Sarajevo”. The Plaque of the City of Sarajevo was also awarded to surgeon prim. dr. Branislav Kotjelnikov and anesthesiologist dr. Elma Vukotić.
An honorary citizen of the City of Sarajevo is a political analyst, director of the Center for Regionalism in Novi Sad, Aleksandar Popov. The “Key to the City of Sarajevo” award went to Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon as a sign of gratitude for the traditional friendship and strong support for the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital.
The mayor of Sarajevo, Predrag Puharić, said that April 6 is not only a date in the calendar and a day of the city, but also a compass, a reminder, a promise and the day when Sarajevo confirms its identity.
“An open, free, solidarity-dedicated city where anti-fascism is not treated as an attitude, but as the basis of civilization. Sarajevo chose humanity in the forties and never stopped choosing again. It chose in the nineties as well. The city that was under siege for 1,425 days did not give in. Sarajevo showed that it can be under siege, but never broken, never conquered,” said Puharić.
Today, he added, we are sending a clear message from this city that anti-fascism is not a topic only for museums. He emphasized that anti-fascism should be taught in schools, celebrated in institutions, defended by the constitution and should be lived.
“Sarajevo has suffered many hardships in its history, but it has always risen from the ashes, despite its occupiers and attackers. It has become a symbol of resistance, a city that conquers, but which is impossible to conquer,” said the Mayor of Sarajevo.
In his welcoming address, the Chairman of the City Council, Jasmin Ademović, emphasized that today we proudly celebrate our glorious past, historical, cultural and traditional heritage, and highlight the positive results achieved in the past period, but we also commit to being better and more valuable in the times to come.
“Sarajevo marks its day today, City Day, April 6. We have spoken about the ambiguity and historical significance of April 6 for Sarajevo many times recently. And it is difficult, almost impossible, to find a similar example in the world that one day has left so much of a mark on the history of a city as April 6 for Sarajevo,” said Ademović.
Three characteristics, as he added, have become and will remain the identity of our city. It is a fight for freedom and justice, multiethnicity and culture, and Sarajevo’s charity and humanity.
“In today’s time, when these three foundations of civilization and civilizational humanity are shaken in every corner of the planet, I sincerely hope that new generations will give birth to people who will carry the flag of what Sarajevo is and lead us into the future. The strength that Sarajevo had hundreds of years ago, through years of struggle and survival, but also growth, we really need in the current challenging times, and in what, I am sure, awaits us, which are the European Union and NATO alliance. A multiethnic Sarajevo, a safe Sarajevo, a planned and clean Sarajevo is the primary goal of all of us because Sarajevo is the capital of our state and as such a vital link in the survival, but also the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Ademović emphasized.
In addition to city councilors, the ceremony was attended by representatives of all levels of government, embassies and other international institutions in BiH, civil society organizations and veterans’ organizations, former mayors and other dignitaries, as well as guests from friendly and sister cities.
