The Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, stated that Srpska marks 28 years since the Sarajevo exodus with sorrow and sadness, when Serbs from seven Sarajevo neighborhoods had no choice but to leave their ancestral homes, following the greatest injustice of the Dayton agreement. He emphasized that it is essential to permanently cherish the memory of this event and educate new generations about the sacrifice made by the Serb people in this area.
“Those who unjustly and inaccurately claim that Sarajevo is multiethnic must remember that its character was irreversibly lost at the end of February 1996, when 150,000 people left the city, driven by justified fear and open threats from wartime enemies,” Višković stated to Srna on the occasion of 28 years since the exodus of Serbs from Sarajevo.
He emphasized that the people who defended their city with great sacrifices and renunciations during the war were forced to leave it in peace.
“The Muslim authority in Sarajevo at the time, supported by the unwilling representatives of the international community, openly threatened retaliation against the Serbs of Sarajevo, as evidenced by the words of the then Muslim leader Alija Izetbegović from that time that ‘every Serb who carried a gun would be brought to trial,'” Višković noted.
He pointed out that it is clear that the Serbs of Sarajevo had no other choice and were unwelcome in such a Sarajevo.
“Out of respect for their immense sacrifice, this event has been included among the events of historical significance for the Serbian people and as such is dignifiedly commemorated every year. We must permanently foster a culture of remembering this event and teach new generations about the sacrifice our people made in this area,” Višković stated.
It has been 28 years since the exodus of Sarajevo Serbs who had to leave their hearths in the Sarajevo neighborhoods of Ilidža, Ilijaš, Hadžići, Grbavica, Vraca, Rajlovac, and Vogošća.
In March 1996, numerous individual tragedies of the local population were written, making the Dayton Peace Agreement for the Sarajevo Serbs an association with the greatest post-war expulsion of people from their hearths.
Source: RTRS
