Italian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Marco Di Ruzza laid a wreath yesterday at the Suada and Olga Bridge (formerly the Vrbanja Bridge) next to a memorial plaque in memory of a pacifist Gabriel Moreno Locatelli, who died on thatday in 1993 during a protest for a ceasefire.
As the ambassador emphasized in a statement to the press, Locatelli was a peacemaker, a member of the Association ‘Blessed Builders of Peace’, and in a symbolic way, he wanted to express a request to stop the hostilities and move towards peace.
”Locatelli is one of the symbols of what civil activism means, sincerely fighting for the goals of peace. It is important to emphasize for all those who are working to create reconciliation in BiH, that BiH is realized as a state that will enter the family of the European Union (EU), that advocacy such as Gabriel Moreno Locatelli should be followed as an example in perseverance to reach a noble goal, ” he said.
Also, he pointed out Italy’s readiness to help BiH both during the war and now, and the commitment of the people in BiH to the Italians.
”Gabriel Moreno Locatelli was the first Italian victim of the war in BiH. A few weeks ago, I was at the memorial place of Italian aviators, on the Zec hill near Fojnica, who were killed when their plane was shot down while they were bringing humanitarian aid in 1992. In January, we will organize a commemoration in Mostar for Italian journalists, who died there while filming a report on what was happening to children in the war, ” he noted.
A memorial plaque to peacekeeper Gabriel Moreno Locatelli was placed near the memorial plaque to the first victims of the war in Sarajevo, Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sucic.
The marking of the anniversary of the death of Gabriel Moreno Locatelli was organized by the Italian Embassy in Sarajevo and was traditionally attended by members of the Sarajevo Association of Citizens of Italian Origin, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
