As a part of Europe Day celebration, a two-day event started in Trebinje on May 13 organized by NGO Ženski centar’s (“Women’s Center”) and with the support of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This was sixth year in a row this Herzegovinian city on the River Trebišnjica has held a Europe Day celebration has been organized in this Herzegovinian city on the River Trebišnjica.  This year’s event featured an exhibition about life, traditions, music and knights’ tournaments in the countries in the region in medieval times.

The program began on Crkvina, with official addresses by Ljiljana Čičković, Director of Ženski centar, Boris Iarochevitch, Head of Operations in the EC Delegation to BiH and Dobroslav Čuk, Mayor of Trebinje.

“I am very pleased to be here with you to mark one of the greatest success stories in peace building in history. He added that 9 May, or “Europe Day”, is the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. “Speaking in Paris in 1950, just 5 years after the most brutal war Europeans ever fought against each other, Robert Schuman, then Foreign Minister of France, proposed a new form of political arrangement for Europe, whose aim was to make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable,” said Iarochevitch.

He emphasized that the May 9th has become a symbol of Europe, which, along with the flag, the anthem, the motto and the single currency (the euro), identifies the political entity of the European Union.

“Europe Day is an annual opportunity to celebrate the EU’s achievements and to reflect on its aims: peace, freedom, prosperity and working together,” said Iarochevitch. The organizer of the celebration, Ms Čičković. explained that the program was put together in a way to present both commonalities and differences characteristic of Europe.

“We organized all of these activities in order to be able to show how people used to live in Europe in medieval times. For example, we organized a workshop for children so they can see how wallets used to be made at those times,” she explained. She stressed that this was “a year of creations and innovations, where by we want to connect culture and tourism and thus show that BiH is part of Europe and that it has lots to offer.”

Trebinje Mayor Čuk reminded the audience that this municipality was among the signatories of the Declaration on European Future.  “We want to work together with the community in order to improve the living standards of our citizens and to use the possibilities made available for us in the common European area,” said Ćuk.

Following the close of the official part of the program, a presentation of the book Orthodox Monasteries in BiH, published by the Association for the Preservation of Heritage in Gacko, was organized in Crkvine.  This was followed by a diverse cultural and entertainment program.

The Europe Day celebration event continued with a visit to a medieval market, purpose-built in Trebinje’s Old Town.  Artists from BiH, Hungary, Slovenia, and Serbia portrayed the culture and traditions of their countries during medieval times with various activities and performances.

During the second day of Trebinje’s Europe Day event, workshops were be organized for young people aged 18 to 23 on the topic “Creativity and Innovation – Development and Importance” in the light of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. The workshops will enable young people to open a debate on the importance of creativity and innovation and discuss the possibilities for young people from this region to become involved in European developments.