Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić, on the occasion of March 1 – Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Independence Day, yesterday morning laid flowers at the “Kovači” cemetery and paid tribute to the defenders of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the first Chairman of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH and Supreme Commander of the RBiH Army Alija Izetbegović.
Numerous delegations of state, federal, cantonal, city and municipal authorities, as well as veterans’ and other organizations, visited the Kovači cemeteries and paid their respects to the veterans.
The member of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirević, in his address to the media, said that “today is one of the biggest dates in the thousand-year history of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
“There are few countries in the world that gained independence with such great support from the residents in the referendum for independence and a sovereign state as was the case with BiH. I responsibly claim that if there were no obstructions in certain municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that close to two-thirds majority for an independent, sovereign, indivisible Bosnia and Herzegovina would be even greater. That date and the democratic will of the citizens of BiH was recognized by the whole of Europe and the whole world. That was a turning point in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Bećirović.
He told those who refuse to celebrate the Independence Day of BiH that “sooner or later everyone must start respecting the state of BiH and the Constitution of BiH, but also this legal state holiday of BiH”.
“Everyone must be proud of this holiday. If we had not decided to be in an independent, free and sovereign state, today BiH would have the status of Šumadija district in Serbia. The citizens of BiH could not allow such humiliation of the thousand-year history of BiH. We are proud people who want to live equally and freely. We want BiH to be equally comfortable for every person, for all citizens and all nations. In this sense, the forces fighting for a democratic, European and Euro-Atlantic BiH will be stronger in the coming period. Those who want discrimination, segregation and continue with the projects of dividing BiH are doomed to defeat in advance,” said Bećirović.
Today, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are celebrating Independence Day and 31 years since the referendum in which they decided by an almost two-thirds majority for an independent, independent, democratic and sovereign state.
The referendum question was: Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Muslims, Serbs, Croats and members of other nations who live in it?
The referendum was held on February 29 and March 1, and 2,073,568 voters voted for independence. Of the total number of those who responded to the referendum, more than 99 percent of them were in favor of independence.
