Twenty-nine years ago, on November 21st, 1995, after weeks of negotiations mediated by the United States (U.S.) diplomacy, a peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Delegations led by the then-President of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH, Alija Izetbegovic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, and President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), Slobodan Milosevic, initialed the agreement that ended the war in BiH. The agreement was signed in the presence of then-U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
In addition to Christopher, the key U.S. mediators were Richard Holbrooke and General Wesley Clark. The Dayton Agreement was officially signed on December 14th, 1995, at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
On that day (December 14th, 1995), the media captured the reactions of the citizens of Sarajevo, who, during several years of war, endured the most brutal atrocities, daily shelling, sniper fire, and life without electricity, food, or water during the longest siege of a city since World War II.
The signing was followed wherever it was possible under wartime conditions – among families and friends – and was greeted with applause and tears. On that day, numerous prominent newspapers in BiH printed some of the most significant headlines in the country’s recent history. They all carried the same message: The final peace has been signed.
