The regular annual Assembly of the BH UK Network – the umbrella organization of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the United Kingdom – was held in the premises of the Bosnian House in Birmingham. The Assembly was attended by representatives of Bosnian and Herzegovina associations and Bosnian supplementary schools from Derby, Birmingham, Coventry, Hertfordshire, the BH Advisory Centre London, Victoria London, and Manchester. Also, to the joy of all present, the Assembly was graced with their presence by representatives of the Bosnian Embassy in London, H.E. Vanja Filipović and Biljana Lučić, First Secretary.
In his opening remarks, Zaim Pašić, President of BH UK Network, welcomed those present and wished them a successful work of the Assembly. Anes Cerić, Manager of BH UK Network, presented the activities in the past year. Certainly the most important activity was the official opening of the Bosnian House, which was officially opened by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Government Minister for Religions. The activities and successes of the Bosnian community were the subject of interest of the British media, so much so that even the British BBC published a report on the Bosnian community on the Island.
With the great help of the Network members and activists, events were organized to mark the national holidays of our homeland (Statehood Day and Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina), the celebration of International Women’s Day, Mother Language Day, Refugee Day, as well as New Year’s holidays. Traditional activities were also organized, such as the traditional “Irhan Duraković” tournament. Through its representatives, the BH UK Network participated in all significant activities of SSD BIH. Of course, the largest event was the organization of the 20th anniversary meeting of Bosnian supplementary schools in Great Britain. Last year, with the help and in cooperation with the organization Remembering Srebrenica, numerous commemorations were organized to mark the anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica.
The attendees were addressed by H.E. Vanja Filipović, for whom this was one of the first working visits since he was recently appointed Ambassador of BiH to the UK. He thanked for the invitation and the wonderful welcome, with congratulations and positive impressions of the organization of the BiH community in the UK. He emphasized that his priority in the coming period will be to promote the BiH market and attract British investors to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Incidentally, British investors are the tenth largest investor in BiH. To this end, the possibilities of organizing joint activities in the coming period were discussed. Biljana Lučić, First Secretary, was particularly impressed by the activities of BiH supplementary schools.
The assembly read a letter from Kemo Sarač, Assistant Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, who unfortunately was unable to attend due to previously undertaken work commitments. “We wish you successful work at the Annual Assembly of the BH UK Network. The Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina emphasizes, also in contacts with other diaspora organizations, that the entire work of the BH UK Network so far should be an example for all diaspora organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this reason, we express our satisfaction with our successful cooperation so far,” stated Mr. Sarač in the letter.
After constructive discussions, the Assembly adopted a proposal to renew the mandates of the Network’s management, so that in the coming period the position of president will be held by Mr. Zaim Pašić, secretary Almin Kazić and treasurer Muhamed Širanović.
After the awards ceremony for the hardworking activists of all BiH associations in the UK, the gathering continued with a special dinner prepared by our hardworking hostesses from Birmingham and Coventry. Thank you to the wonderful hostesses who made every effort to ensure that the guests were welcomed in a suitable manner. We wish the newly elected leadership much success in the implementation of planned activities in the coming period.
