Street names bearing the names of Ustasha regime officials in Mostar were changed last year, for which HDZ leader Dragan Čović was personally thanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the plaques with disputed names have not yet been removed from the city’s streets.
During the ceremonial opening of the Mostar fair, which was held this year in partnership with the State of Israel, Netanyahu sent a video message in which, among other things, he said that BiH’s role in the fight against anti-Semitism is important.
“I know that you are all committed to the fight against anti-Semitism. Special thanks to my friend Čović. You promised to remove the names of streets named after war criminals in Mostar. You have fulfilled your promise. I appreciate your act, which can serve as an example to everyone in the world,” Netanyahu said.
However, if he had come to Mostar and passed through the streets whose name changes he thanked the HDZ leader for, he would probably be surprised that after almost a year, the plaques with the disputed street names have not yet been removed.
Six disputed streets
Although by the decision of the City Council of the City of Mostar, Mile Budaka Street returned to its pre-war name and was officially renamed Alekse Šantić Street, name plates do not show this to passers-by, as do the remaining five streets in that city.
Vokić i Lorković Street was named after Tin Ujević and Rafael Boban after Fr. Ljudevit Lasta, while Jure Francetić Street was named Humska Street. Ivo Zelenika’s previous street was named Ciglana, and Đura Spuževića street was named after Ismet Ica Voljevica.
The decision to change the names of streets in Mostar, which came into force on July 14 last year when it was adopted, has not yet been implemented in practice even after almost a year, although the decision states that the City Council of Mostar will notify the competent authority within 30 days. The cadastre service of the Department of Urban Planning and Construction on the change in the name of the street.
It was also stated that the competent Service is obliged to mark new street names within 30 days from the date of receipt of the notification of this decision, and to enter them in the register, mark and arrange house numbers in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the method of marking and recording inhabited places, streets, squares and house numbers.
Therefore, the plaques with the names of the disputed streets should have been changed a long time ago, but since this did not happen, the mayor of Mostar, Maro Kordić, revealed in November last year the bizarre reason why the names of the Ustasha regime are still on the plaques of the Mostar streets, which is contrary to the decision of the City Council.
Bizarre reason
At that time, he explained that “the City of Mostar has not regulated that area since before”, and that he was working on an address register with the Federal Geodetic Administration so that Mostar would get new addresses, new house numbers and new plate layouts in all the streets.
He announced at the time that it was planned to be completed by the middle or the third quarter of 2023 and said, “It was crazy that we were going to some “ad hoc” action to change it, in fact it entered the whole project”.
Thus, plaques with the names of controversial names on the streets of Mostar still stand and do not show visitors that the largest city on the Neretva has made progress that was awaited for decades and does not maintain the image of a dedicated city in the fight against anti-Semitism as an example to be praised in the world, Klix.ba reports.
