The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Federal Republic of Germany today organized a ceremonial reception on the occasion of the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the embassy announced.
The reception was held in the imposing building of the Saxony State Representative Office, a national monument in the very heart of Berlin (Museumsinsel). It was attended by dozens of members of the Bundestag, an even larger number of foreign ambassadors from other countries, and more than a hundred other guests – representatives of German authorities, political foundations, international organizations, as well as prominent citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Damir Arnaut thanked the Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretchmer for this gesture and emphasized that it came as a result of several months of contacts between the Embassy and Saxony on specific projects, especially in the segment of educational cooperation and strengthening the culture of remembrance.
In addition to Ambassador Arnaut, the guests were addressed by the Parliamentary Secretary for Education in the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and Member of the Bundestag Michael Brand, the Director of the Sector for Southeast Europe, Turkey and OSCE in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Michael Reiffenstuel, the Head of the Saxony Representation in Berlin Markus Franke, and the Member of the Presidency of BiH Denis Bećirović via video link.
Director Reiffenstuel conveyed the message from Minister Wadephul that Germany firmly supports the High Representative in BiH Christian Schmidt and the OHR, while Parliamentary Secretary Brand emphasized that “Germans as Europeans have an obligation to help Bosnians and Herzegovinians as Europeans.”
Ambassador Arnaut emphasized the values of ZAVNOBiH, emphasizing that Bosnia and Herzegovina was an inspiration to the rest of Europe in November 1943, because its citizens had already liberated more than half of the country by then, while almost all of Europe was still occupied.
“Today we are learning from Germany – added Arnaut, pointing out that “four members of the Bundestag of Bosnian origin have no restrictions on their ambitions in this country, but some of them could not be elected to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina or the House of Peoples due to their ethnicity or ethno-territorial criteria”. Arnaut emphasized that the abolition of such discrimination, and not the deepening of existing ethno-territorial solutions that promote corruption, is the recipe for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress towards the EU.”
Thanking the sponsors who made the reception possible, Arnaut emphasized that we should look no further than Germany for evidence that we belong to the European Union.
“More than 1,000 top Bosnian doctors work in Germany, as well as an even greater number of successful entrepreneurs, scientists and artists. They flourish in the EU where they are not burdened by corruption and artificial national divisions. That is the recipe for Bosnia and Herzegovina,” concluded the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
