The Sarajevo City Council today adopted an initiative by the Party for BiH caucus to return the monument to Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie near the Latin Bridge, formerly known as Princip’s Bridge.
The monument to Franz Ferdinand and his wife was removed from the site of the Latin Bridge and destroyed after the end of the First World War and the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
In the initiative, the Party for BiH caucus stated that, aside from the fact that the Sarajevo assassination was an event with far-reaching historical consequences, it primarily represents the tragic murder of a married couple who, on June 28, 1914, were in Sarajevo on an official visit, the Klix.ba portal reported.
According to the information presented in the initiative, parts of the original monument still exist but are scattered. One part is displayed at the Museum of Sarajevo, while the remaining two parts are located in Trebinje and at Kobilja Glava.
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were killed by Gavrilo Princip on June 28, Vidovdan, 1914, in Sarajevo. The assassination served as the pretext for Austria-Hungary’s attack on Serbia, and thus for the outbreak of the First World War.
Reacting to the decision of the Sarajevo City Council, the mayor of East Sarajevo, Ljubiša Ćosić, told Srna that the initiative to return the monument represents a unique example in the world of erecting a monument to an occupier.
Ćosić noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed by Austria-Hungary in the 20th century, whose authorities used the country’s resources and oppressed its peoples.
He emphasized that he respects other nations, but assessed that this is a case of wandering in attempts to create an identity.
“I have not heard greater nonsense in a long time. It is definitely clear that the root of all this is much deeper and that some are still wandering between different identity choices,” Ćosić said.
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Source: Kurir, Foto: ÖNB-Bildarchiv / APA / Profimedia