Baroness Warsi at Sarajevo

Baroness Warsi represents the UK Government at the commemoration of the start of First World War in Sarajevo.

 14332033729_f8f44b1978_oSenior Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi participated in centenary commemorations marking the outbreak of the First World War during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Baroness Warsi represents the UK at the concert in the restored Sarajevo City Hall given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and will later today witness the Century of Peace event. She will also visit the joint exhibition of the Imperial War Museum and the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The exhibition is a part of the Sarajevo Heart of Europe foundation project implemented by the British Council and supported by the European Union.

 In addition to participating in these commemorative events, during Baroness Warsi’s three day visit she also met with a number of party leaders including: Zlatko Lagumdzija, Bakir Izetbegovic, Fahrudin Radoncic, Martin Raguz, and Mladen Ivanic. She encouraged Bosnia and Herzegovina’s senior political leaders to engage substantively with the people’s calls for reforms, and emphasised the importance of political parties to addressing socio-economic reforms in their programmes ahead of the October elections. Baroness Warsi also stressed the UK’s commitment to the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign and united country and support for both the EU and NATO membership.

 Baroness Warsi said: “I am proud to be here to represent the UK Government at the start of the commemoration of the First World War in Sarajevo. I hope that the events this year, and over the next four years, will bring people and communities together in remembrance.”