prijava
SARAJEVO, August 20 (FENA) - The 23rd anniversary of the deaths of US diplomats - Josef Kruzel, Robert Frasure and Samuel Nelson Drew and French soldier Stephan Reault who were killed in a tragic accident on August 19, 1995, was marked today on Mt Igman with a ceremony and laying of flowers at the memorial.
After the national anthems of the United States of America, the Republic of France and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the laying of wreaths at the memorial on the slopes of Mt Igman and paying respect in the presence of the Honorary Unit of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the participants of the ceremony were addressed by representatives of embassies of the US and the Republic of France in BiH, the OSCE Mission to BiH and the BiH Ministry of Defense.
“Today, we came here to pay tribute to the commitment and sacrifice of four brave people who paid the highest price for lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina 23 years ago,” said the Deputy Head of the US Mission to BiH Ellen Germaine, reminding that these four men died in an accident in an armored vehicle while they were traveling to negotiate the end of the war in BiH.
Remembering the unselfish engagement of four brave men and all those who served in the service of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germaine invoked all BiH citizens, and especially political leaders, "to invest even more efforts in rejection of nationalism and ethnic divisions, and instead focus on what brings people together in this beautiful country."
“We must not allow politicians to put their personal interests ahead of the common good. Instead, let's work even more to make sure that this country progresses so that one day, as a stable and prosperous member of the Euro-Atlantic community, takes its place where it belongs,” Germaine said.
Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of France to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catherine Weber, said that their thoughts today are with families of the four brave men whose engagement will never be forgotten.
“A memory of them should be our everyday inspiration to work on building and maintaining the peace that is needed for the future and prosperity of BiH,” she stressed.
Ambassador Bruce Berton, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, reminded of the importance of engagement in the preservation of peace, saying that the peace achieved serves as a basis for further work and the progress achieved in the meantime in this country.
Joseph Kruzel, Robert Frasure and Nelson Drew, American diplomats from Richard Holbrooke's office, the Special Envoy of then US President Bill Clinton and a French soldier Stephan Reault, tragically lost their lives on August 19, 1995 on the road on Mt Igman, returning to Sarajevo after being in a peacekeeping mission.
(FENA) S. R.
