Helikopterska nesreća na Prokoškom jezeru

The men and woman who died on this mountain fifteen years ago were engaged in the day-to-day work of peace implementation – but they were engaged in something larger too.

The great Italian anti-fascist writer Ignazio Silone visiting Galilee with his wife in the early 1960s described the barren but beautiful countryside there as – and I quote – “the landscape of my soul”.

Members of the families, Vice-President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Ten years have gone by since the men and women we have gathered to honour were killed in this place.

Over the years, I have travelled far and wide across Bosnia and Herzegovina and tried to be present at all the major events. This is, however, the first time I have attended the commemorative ceremony for our 12 colleagues who died here in pursuit of peace nine years ago.

The immutable beauty of this landscape – sky and mountaintop, God’s grandeur – reflects our purpose today. This morning we honour the memory of 12 men and women who gave their lives eight years ago – for this country, in this place. The passage of time does not diminish their sacrifice, or our solemn duty to honour it.

We are here to pay tribute to twelve men and women – five of them from the Office which I am now privileged to lead - who gave their lives in the service of peace in this country. This ceremony has become – rightly – an annual occasion. Each year, we journey to this remote and timeless spot to remember our colleagues.

I have not been to this beautiful site before. It is hard to reconcile the calm and the peace of this place with the tragedy that occurred here on that foggy morning five years ago. We are here to honour the memory of those twelve men and women who died building a better future for the people of this country.

Representatives of the International Community and the BiH authorities on Tuesday attended a memorial service at Prokosko Lake, near Fojnica, on the fifth anniversary of a helicopter crash in which five members of the Office of the High Representative and seven members of the UN mission in BiH were killed.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are here today to honour the memory of twelve men and women who died while carrying out their duties as members of the international peace mission in Bosnia and Herezegovina

Today is the fourth anniversary of the helicopter accident near Fojnica, which took the lives of 12 members of the international peace mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.