[wzslider]The book “Djetinstvo u Ratu” (Childhood in War) was presented yesterday in the European Parliament in Brussels under the auspices of Doris Pack, the President of the European Cultural Committee and Dino Elezović, Representative of Sarajevo Canton in Brussels.
BIH diplomats and members of the European Parliament attended the promotion, announced the Presidency of Sarajevo Canton in Brussels.
In her opening, Dorisk Pack said that she came to BiH from 1992-1994, and that every time she had the feeling of helplessness with what happened in Sarajevo and BiH. In a very emotional speech, she spoke about the loss of her child in 1992 and said that because of that, she understood the pain of BiH parents.
In his introductory remarks Dino Elezović stressed the ambition of the Presidency in the promotion of events that present the European and multicultural spirit of Sarajevo and BiH in front of European institutions and member states, and said that the Presidency of Sarajevo Canton will continue to initiate and support these events.
The author of the book “Djetinstvo u ratu” Jasminko Halilović said in his presentation that this is not a book of the dead, but of the experiences of the survivors. His presentation of Sarajevo, siege of Sarajevo and the experiences gathered in it, was imbued with video appearances of participants who spoke of their wartime childhood, and what this books means to them. Selma Tanović, Ogi Tomić, Filip Andronik, Admir Kadrić, Ivana Pauković and Ivana Vranjković were speaking in Brussels through a video link.
Halilović finished his speech by reading the diary of a 12-year-old girl, and then surprised everyone when he said that it was not written during the 1990’s, but this year in Syria. He said that he thinks this book is successful if it at least contributes to the understanding of peace and understanding of the responsibilities that adults have in creating a better world for the children.
The opening statements were followed by a discussion with BIH and European diplomats, Eduard Kukan, Chairman of the Committee for Southeast Europe and Western Balkans, Jelko Kacin, the EU Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia, Sandra Kalniete, Miranda Sidran, Minister-Counsellor of the BIH Mission to the EU, Ismeta Dervoz, Member of House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BIH, and participant in the project Nina Asotić. Igor Davidović, the Ambassador of BiH to the EU, and Branimir Jukić, the Ambassador of BIH to NATO attended the presentation also.
Eduard Kukan said “the lesson of this book should be that we have to do everything so something like this does not happen again, anywhere”.
Jelko Kacin, member of the European Parliament, said that: This is a book about the past, but its purpose for a better future. This book has to be translated to the 23 official languages of the EU”.
Sandra Kalniette, a Latvian author and politician, expressed her thanks to Halilović who gathered the experience of children in Sarajevo and expressed hope that ‘’this book and similar projects contribute to people in the world to open their eyes, and if, if wars must be, we will do everything to help children in warring areas’’.
At the end of the promotion, further cooperation was announced, and Doris Pack was awarded the “Sarajevska Kapija”, a gift of the Presidency of Sarajevo Canton in Brussels, and a monograph “Sarajevo-my city, place of meetings’’.
