After the Committee of UNESCO included stećaks from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia on the prestigious List of World Heritage, Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Adil Osmanović said that these countries demonstrated exceptional cooperation.
“Exhibitions of nominated stećaks were held in Paris. Our embassies across the world worked on the promotion of this project. Decision on the inclusion of stećaks on the List of World Heritage was reached by a special commission and it was a pleasure listening to them presenting their conclusions and claiming that stećaks and necropolises should be on this list. They are included on the list thanks to the unique and cultural value, and also recognized was the regional cooperation with which we showed that culture knows no borders,” Osmanović said.
The List now includes and protects 28 necropolises, 20 of which are from BiH, three from Montenegro, three from Serbia, and two from Croatia.
“For us, this is a success that crowned the six-year work of the four countries. Now we must work on the maintaining this heritage, and all levels of authority must be involved. A lot of meetings is ahead of us,” added Osmanović and congratulated the citizens on the first project in this region that is a work of four countries.
Representative of UNESCO Siniša Šešum congratulated the countries on this achievement and said that now they should work on the protection of stećaks and necropolises.
Minister Osmanović said that he was especially delighted with the reaction of mayors of municipalities at whose territory the stećaks are located and said that with good organization of municipal administration the project will be self-sustainable and attract attention of tourists.
The List of World heritage includes as much as 60.000 stećaks from BiH.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: zenit.ba)
