JERINIĆ: BOLJANIĆ - A PLACE TO BUILD BETTER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH AMERICA

DOBOJ, JUNE 24 /SRNA/ - Envoy of the president of Republika Srpska, Boris Jerinić, stated that the Doboj settlement of Boljanić - where 60 Allied pilots were rescued during the Halyard – Airlift operation in World War II - can become a place for establishing better diplomatic and other relations between Republika Srpska and the United States.

Jerinić, who visited Boljanić today with former governor of the U.S. state of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, said that the U.S. Embassy in BiH had not supported commemorating the anniversary of the Halyard operation in previous years, but he hopes that Blagojevich’s visit will change that. He emphasized that Boljanić and the Halyard Mission are a link between the freedom-loving Serb people and the American people. "I am taking this opportunity to thank Mr. Blagojevich for coming to Boljanić today. Just as he has not forgotten his roots, we are today at the site of the Halyard operation, so we must not forget these facts," Jerinić told the press. Jerinić expressed hope that today's Blagojevich's visit to Boljanić, Doboj, and Republika Srpska will help change political relations and thanked him for that. He noted that it was agreed this would be the first, but not the last, visit by Blagojevich. "He is always welcome and will always be a good and dear guest," Jerinić said. He has called on Blagojević to share his impressions from Republika Srpska with U.S. President Donald Trump and emphasized his confidence that the United States and the Serb people in Republika Srpska uphold and cherish the same values. "There are things that connect us and will establish even better relations and ties," Jerinić said. In Operation Halyard – The Airlift, carried out by the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland under the command of General Dragoljub Draža Mihailović, more than 500 Allied pilots were rescued, including sixty in Boljanić alone. The Airlift operation was the largest rescue mission of American soldiers behind enemy lines during 1944 and 1945. This commemoration of a historical event of republican significance is organised by the Republika Srpska Government's Committee for Nurturing the Tradition of Liberation Wars.