{"id":234317,"date":"2021-12-08T18:21:45","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T17:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/in-memory-of-novica-kostic-war-veterans-from-the-region-pay-their-respects-to-a-fellow-peacebuilder\/"},"modified":"2023-09-22T11:28:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T09:28:21","slug":"in-memory-of-novica-kostic-war-veterans-from-the-region-pay-their-respects-to-a-fellow-peacebuilder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/in-memory-of-novica-kostic-war-veterans-from-the-region-pay-their-respects-to-a-fellow-peacebuilder\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memory of Novica Kosti\u0107: War veterans from the region pay their respects to a fellow peacebuilder"},"content":{"rendered":"

In memory of Novica Kosti\u0107, war veteran and long-time peace activist who died in December 2020, on Wednesday, 8 December 2021, representatives of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo\/Belgrade, together with an informal group of war veterans from the region, former members of the Croatian Army (HV), the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), the Army of Yugoslavia (VJ) and the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) visited Novica Kosti\u0107\u2019s grave to lay flowers and attend the commemoration in Vlasotince.<\/p>\n

On that occasion, a petition to name 1. oktobra Street in Vlasotince where Novica lived after him was launched.<\/p>\n

Novica Kosti\u0107<\/strong> was born in the village of Dobrovi\u0161, Municipality of Vlasotince,\u00a0 He participated in the 1991 armed conflict in Croatia as part of the reserve forces of the former JNA. He was seriously wounded on 4 November 1991 in Karlovac, Croatia. The injuries he sustained left him permanently disabled, he lost his leg and his multiple injuries permanently diminished his health and required many subsequent surgeries. The last procedure he had to undergo was in the summer of 2019. He was the president of the Disabled War Veterans Association in Vlasotince until his untimely death on 12 December 2020.<\/p>\n

The petition to name a street after Novica Kosti\u0107 states that as a peace activist working throughout the former Yugoslavia, Novica met with war veterans and sent the message that war was the greatest of evils and that reconciliation was needed to ensure young people would never have to face war again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter he was wounded, he devoted his life to his family and to peacebuilding. He never missed an opportunity to speak out about the horrors of war and to advocate for peace, reconciliation, cooperation and solidarity among the people of the former Yugoslavia,\u201d says the text of the petition. Together with a mixed group of veterans from the region, Novica Kosti\u0107 visited sites of atrocities and paid his respects to all victims, calling for the prosecution of perpetrators and for building trust among people. On this mission, Novica attended more than 20 commemorations and visited sites of atrocities in BiH, Croatia and Serbia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The petition was signed by more than<\/strong> 150<\/strong> of Novica Kosti\u0107\u2019s neighbours and fellow residents of Vlasotince, representatives of the Vlasotince Municipality, including its president Bratislav Petrovi\u0107, veterans\u2019 organisations from Vlasotince, the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo\/Belgrade and its associates from across the region, the Serbian National Council from Croatia, etc.<\/p>\n

At the start of the commemoration in the Vlasotince Cultural Centre, following a moment of silence, those gathered were addressed by Srboljub Taki\u0107<\/strong>, a representative of the Vlasotince Municipality and the local SUBNOR (Federation of Veterans\u2019 Associations of the People\u2019s Liberation War of Yugoslavia) organisation. Novica\u2019s son Danijel Kosti\u0107<\/strong>, as well as Aneta Vladimirov<\/strong> from the Serbian National Council of Croatia, Ibrahim Top\u0107i\u0107<\/strong>, a war veteran of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zvonko Luci\u0107<\/strong>, a veteran of the Croatian Army, \u0110oko Pup\u010devi\u0107<\/strong>, a veteran of the Army of Republika Srpska, and Nenad Vukosavljevi\u0107<\/strong> from the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo\/Belgrade also spoke at the commemoration. Katarina Mili\u0107evi\u0107<\/strong> from the CNA team acted as moderator.<\/p>\n

Aneta Vladimirov<\/strong> from the Serbian National Council of Croatia, one of the organisations supporting the street name petition, pointed out that from the perspective of all minorities in the post-Yugoslav area, it is important to emphasise people like Novica Kosti\u0107 as rare and courageous individuals who devote their lives to peacebuilding.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor his suffering, he did not seek pity or any special reaction, but he did demand accountability and freedom. He lived humbly, but freely. By coming to sites of suffering, and you also visited such sites in Croatia together with Novica, all these places are difficult, burdened with shame and discomfort, which is why most people avoid them. But shame and discomfort is often what makes us human, and by visiting these sites, you bring back hope, where once people were wolves to each other, you show that we can be human again,\u201d Vladimirov said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Zvonko Luci\u0107<\/strong> said that in 1991, he was on the opposite side of the front from Novica, but they did not meet then.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not meet then. Life is strange, we met as partners and proved that former enemies can take on the role of healing themselves and their communities by dealing with the past. Novica was outstanding in this, realistic, unimposing and with one truth for all. If a community needs role models, and all societies should have something to aspire to, then this community has chosen the right role model because his life exemplifies the right values. That is my testimony about Novica,\u201d said Zvonko Luci\u0107.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ibrahim Top\u010di\u0107 Pajo<\/strong>, a war veteran from Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, said he wholeheartedly accepted the invitation to join the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Novica for years, we were true friends, he came to Gornji Vakuf twice, and many times we visited difficult sites of suffering together. Novica will live on in my memories as a friend who lived far away, but was always close,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u0110oko Pup\u010devi\u0107<\/strong> recounted how he met Novica through peace work, visiting sites of suffering and honouring all victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt such places we would shed tears and we would talk, we would remember how we got wounded, we would discuss problems, but Novica never complained, he was always steadfast and firm, always looking forward, and for many of us, he was like an older brother,\u201d said \u0110oko Pup\u010devi\u0107.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Novica Kosti\u0107 cooperated with the Centre for Nonviolent Action for a whole of 20 years. Speaking on behalf of the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo\/Belgrade, Nenad Vukosavljevi\u0107<\/strong>, a long-time friend and associate of Novica Kosti\u0107, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen seeking responsibility for his misfortune, Novica started from himself, because he believed this to be fair \u2013 if you expect others to re-examine their actions, it\u2019s only fair that you begin with yourself. Because of this, he was misunderstood and received threats and insults. That is what happens when you step out of the line where a different opinion is not tolerated. But there can be no freedom where everyone thinks the same. And we need freedom. Novica fought for that freedom, not just for himself, but for all of us. That is why he was my hero, not just a Serbian hero, though he was that too, but a hero of humanity. He also enjoyed great support, he won people over with his honesty, he reaped their respect. Today, we stand in testament to this, we have come from far and wide and it is important to name all the places that people have come from:\u00a0 Zagreb, Sarajevo, Gornji Vakuf, Biha\u0107, Bosanski Novi\/Novi Grad, Br\u010dko, Rogatica, Gora\u017ede, Zavidovi\u0107i, Kru\u0161evac, Belgrade, \u0160amac, Rudo, Vlasotince and others. Thank you for being here,\u201d said Vukosavljevi\u0107.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A short film about Novica Kosti\u0107 was shown at the end of the commemoration.<\/p>\n

Photo gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

Media reports:<\/p>\n

JUGPRESS<\/a><\/p>\n

IN4S.NET<\/a><\/p>\n

JUZNEVESTI<\/a><\/p>\n

DANAS<\/a><\/p>\n

MEDIACENTAR016<\/a><\/p>\n

AUTONOMIJA.INFO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

War veterans from the region and peace activists have submitted an initiative to name one street in Vlasotince after Novica Kosti\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,72],"tags":[311,285,337,1838,138,1947,304,146,182,2149,1904,238],"class_list":["post-234317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-excomb","tag-activism","tag-bosnia-and-herzegovina","tag-combatants","tag-commemoration-en","tag-croatia","tag-former-combatants-en","tag-peacebuilding","tag-reconciliation","tag-veterans","tag-war-veteran-cooperation","tag-war-veterans-in-peacebuilding","tag-war-veterans"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234317"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240486,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234317\/revisions\/240486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}