Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina from 10 to 12 July, and on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, she will attend a commemoration at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, where she will read a message from King Charles III. The Duchess will then lay a wreath at the Potočari cemetery in memory of the victims and speak to the Mothers of Srebrenica.
At this important moment, the Duchess will meet with a number of interlocutors from across Bosnia and Herzegovina, including members of the BiH Presidency, religious leaders and civil society, to discuss the legacy of the war, 30 years after its end, the British Embassy in BiH announced.
The Duchess will visit the Bosnia and Herzegovina Missing Persons Institute, which crosses entity borders in the search for people missing during the 1990s war, and speak to survivors of wartime sexual violence – an issue of great importance to the UK, which has a leading role in addressing this issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both through international advocacy and direct support for survivors.
She will also meet with the NATO Force Commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EUFOR Force Commander to thank them for their significant contribution to maintaining peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Duchess of Edinburgh has never visited Bosnia and Herzegovina before. In March 2021, she took part in a video link call with representatives of survivors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the UK Initiative to Prevent Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The last visit by a member of the British Royal Family took place in July 2015, when Princess Anne attended the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the British Embassy in BiH announced.
