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Bosnia and Herzegovina to open first UK consulate

Richard Price
BBC News, West Midlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, is wearing a navy blue suit jacket with a white shirt and blue tie, and is stood next to the Bosnia-Herzegovina national flag, which is blue and yellow with white stars on the blue section.Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network
President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović will officially open the new consulate on Sunday

The UK's first Bosnian consulate is due to open in Birmingham on Sunday.

The president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, will officially open the diplomatic base during a ceremony that will honour the resilience and contributions of the British Bosnian community.

It will take place at Bosnia House on Stratford Road, and will also mark 30 years since the Bosnian genocide. The Srebrenica massacre in July 1995 was described by the United Nations as "the worst atrocity on European soil" since World War Two.

The wider war saw more than 100,000 people killed, thousands more facing sexual violence, as well as two million people displaced.

Community leaders said the event on Sunday would honour the strength and legacy of survivors who rebuilt their lives in the UK.

Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network A brick-built building, with a Bosnia-Herzegovina national flag and a Union Jack either side of a set of blue double doors. Above the doors is a white sign with blue lettering which reads Bosnia House.Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network
The consulate will be based at Bosnia House on Stratford Road in Birmingham

Following the war, which ended in 1995, Birmingham served as the headquarters for the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network, which ed an estimated 10,000 refugees in Britain.

Sunday's event will also see Dr Anes Cerić, chief executive of the organisation, appointed as honorary consul of Bosnia-Herzegovina for the Midlands region.

Dr Cerić said the opening of the consulate was a historic milestone.

"From trauma to triumph, this represents our journey and opens new opportunities for investment, education, cultural exchange, and economic partnerships between Bosnia and the Midlands," he said.

Dr Waqar Azmi, the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network's honorary president, added that despite enduring "unimaginable horrors", the British Bosnian community continued to "reject hatred and champion a society rooted in peace, comion, and unity".

The ceremony is expected to be attended by the UK minister for communities Lord Wajid Khan and mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker.

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