Bosnia and Herzegovina to open first UK consulate

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.

Following the war, which ended in 1995, Birmingham served as the headquarters for the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network, which supported 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, compassion, 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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