On the river Ugar, near the Kneževo/Skender Vakuf, the highest BiH officials were there for a traditional informal gathering.
The gathering was held, symbolically, halfway between Banja Luka and Sarajevo, at the inter-entity line that is connected in a natural setting surrounded by woods and nature. Participants included local politicians, foreign diplomats, prominent citizens of BiH, as well as citizens of Kneževo, who were attracted to the interesting list of guests in the vicinity of their town. Citizens said that they hope that this traditional manifestation would help the development of tourism, given that this event always attracts a lot of attention.
Although the temperature of 26 Celsius was somewhat higher than is usual for this mountain region, it was much more comfortable that the 38 Celsius in Banja Luka.
Among the foreign guests was US Ambassador Patrick Moon, Ambassador of Russia Aleksandar Bocan-Harčenko, Ambassador of Austria Donatus Kock, Head of OSCE Mission to BIH Fletcher Burton, Ambassador of Switzerland Andre Schaller, as well as Ambassadors of Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, Croatia, and other countries.
President of the RS Milorad Dodik was not able to attend because he was on a business trip to Russia. However, despite the absence of a number of guests, there were at least 70 percent political and diplomatic elite of BiH present at the gathering.
For the high guests, a table along the river was provided, while the rest of the citizens were honored in a specially prepared tent with tables and food.
At the same table, representatives of various political parties were to be found, and members of the current and former RS government. The Ambassadors of the two most powerful countries-the US and Russia, sat together, and they were accompanies by Radojičić.
Even if officials from all levels of government were at one place, they spoke least of all about politics, but it was not possible to evade current topics. They spoke about the “Sejdić – Finci” case, BiH’s European path, accession of Croatia to the EU and the consequences for BiH, economic crisis and the international position of BIH. However, the gathering was marked more by celebrations with wine, music and informal conversations. The pleasant and comfortable atmosphere by the Ugar river on Friday could maybe give an impulse so that a solution could be found in the next few days for the issues that concern BIH citizens.
(Source: Nezavisne Novine)
