Revealing the face of a Sarajevo beauty – with EU help

As the scaffolding dismantling work progresses, well-known colours of the façade are emerging and show the beauty of Vijećnica, the City Hall of Sarajevo destroyed during the war in the 1990s. After 20 years, one of the symbols of Sarajevo proudly stands again on the bank of Miljacka river. Both Sarajevans and visitors alike can again admire the splendour of the building erected in the 19th century, during the period of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In March 2012, Head of the EU Delegation / EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Peter Sorensen, signed a Protocol for reconstruction, which provided 5.4 million euro , needed for the reconstruction of the building. This was not the only donation of the European Union related to Vijećnica. The EU had already invested 2.2 million euro between 2000 and 2004.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Sorensen noted that cultural heritage protection and promotion has the potential to be part of building a common vision for the country’s future, on the basis of shared EU values.

In the past six years alone, the European Union provided 13 million euro through IPA for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of BiH cultural heritage. Other major reconstruction projects include sites in Stolac, Novi Grad and Banja Luka.

Europa.ba