ŠEHOVAC: FOR SERBS, MARCH 1 SYMBOLIZES MOURNING

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, MARCH 1 /SRNA/ – Deputy Chairperson of the Presidency of the Republika Srpska Veterans’ Organization Goran Šehovac told SRNA that March 1 as a holiday will never be acceptable to Serbs in Republika Srpska, because on that day 34 years ago Serb wedding guest Nikola Gardović was brutally killed in downtown Sarajevo simply because someone was bothered by the Serbian flag.

Šehovac stated that this is one of the saddest days, which should be declared a day of mourning. “On that day, a Serb was brutally killed in the most malicious manner, while people were celebrating, in the very center of Sarajevo, simply because someone was bothered by the Serbian flag,” Šehovac said. He emphasized that the Serbian flag is legally recognized as the official flag of Republika Srpska, but that even today it cannot be carried through Sarajevo and the Federation of BiH /FBiH/. Republika Srpska is observing a Day of Mourning today, marking 34 years since the tragic events that led to the outbreak of the conflict in BiH. In parts of the Federation of BiH with a Bosniak majority, March 1 is marked as the so-called Independence Day of BiH, as an illegal referendum on independence and secession from the SFRY was held on that date 34 years ago. Serbs in Republika Srpska remember March 1 for the killing of the Serb wedding guest Nikola Gardović in Sarajevo, which was also the trigger for the outbreak of war. This tragic date is not celebrated in Republika Srpska. Instead, November 21 is observed - the day when the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH was initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, marking the end of the civil war in BiH.