In cooperation with the Association of War-veterans of the Defensive-Liberation War 1992-1995, Municipal Organistion in Velika Kladuša and the Association of Disabled War-veterans of the National Defence from Velika Kladuša, the Centre for Nonviolent Action organised a visit to Velika Kladuša on 26 October 2014.
The visit brought together 23 war-veterans from: Army of Republika Srpska, the Croatian Army, the Croat Defence Council, the JNA, the Army of Yugoslavia and the Army of RBiH.
Together with war-veterans from the region, for the first time since the end of the war, representatives of former enemy armies jointly visited the local memorial cemetery of the National Defence at Dubrave and the Shahid cemetery of the RBiH Army fighters where they laid flowers and honoured all the victims.
Velika Kladuša is a town still labouring under the legacy of the war conflict within a single ethnic community, that of the Bosniaks-Muslims. This act that we had to wait nineteen years for has a symbolic significance for overcoming hatred and distrust that are still present and pronounced in this divided community.
A joint meeting was held bringing together our group and representatives of veterans’ associations of the RBiH Army and the National Defence from Velika Kladuša, and the Association of fallen and missing members of the National Defence. The meeting supported the idea of joint visits and meetings of former participants in the wars that contribute to stable peacebuilding through dialogue and through honouring the fallen on all sides. Our hosts pointed out that this event is of historical importance for them and that it constitutes a step towards reconciliation and co-existence of the people of Kladuša. They were also grateful to our mixed group of veterans and peace activists for its support and encouragement that helped them organise this first joint visit to places of memory.
The meeting was also attended by Edin Bekrić, Mayor of Velika Kladuša, who said that visits to the Dubrave cemetery and the Shahid cemetery were an important step for peacebuilding as the only guarantee of prosperity for all citizens of Velika Kladuša.
The event received a lot of media attention. These are some of the links to media coverage:
Photo gallery