The mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, spoke in an interview yesterday about current topics, and political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and she also commented on the current growing conflicts in the Middle East.
At the very beginning of the interview, Karic spoke about the current topic of New Year’s Eve in Sarajevo and the bands that were announced.
“I think this New Year will have a very special atmosphere because next year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Olympic Games and the first episode of “Top Lista Nadrealista” (The Top List of the Surrealists). This aroused a very special emotion in us, and we decided to give priority to our local bands. We hope that these bands will remind us of the spirit of Sarajevo, which is very much still alive,” she said and added:
“Of course, it can always be better, every group has its own audience. Last year there were negative comments when Dubioza Kolektiv was selected, many people did not like that decision. We try to choose something that is diverse and satisfies everyone’s taste.”
When asked whether the City Hall will be illuminated in certain colors after the new conflict in the Middle East, Karic said:
“The City Council supported my decision not to allow illumination of the City Hall, except in certain cases such as national holidays and calendars from the City of Sarajevo. If you ask me for my personal position, I will be happy to express it, I have never run away from it. In this case, it would be hypocritical for me to condemn only one attack. For me, it is hypocritical to condemn only the Hamas attack on Israel, without condemning everything that happened before that. I condemn every attack, every act of terrorism, every killing of innocent people. So I equally condemn everything that is happening in Palestine. The killing of innocent children and women and civilians. I was very emotionally shaken by the information that Gaza is currently without water and electricity. We who survived the siege of Sarajevo know what it feels like. We must be human and equally condemn everything that is happening, including what happened before in Palestine and the attack by Hamas,” Karic stated.
In response to criticism for participating in a protest walk due to femicide in BiH, she said:
“I organized a peaceful walk as a woman, as a mayor, as someone who sat in the City Hall on Sunday evening and saw that most cities in BiH organize walks, and Sarajevo did not organize anything. My emotion then said that I must stand up against violence and the only thing I can do is organize a peaceful walk,” Karic concluded, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
