ZAGREB, January 18, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who was on a two-day official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Thursday stopped at the villages of Ahmiži and Križančevo Selo in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, to pay tribute to war victims of the Croat-Bosniak conflict in 1993.
On her way from Sarajevo to several municipalities in central Bosnia, the Croatian president stopped first at Ahmići where she laid a wreath at the local monument erected in memory of 116 Bosniaks killed by the Croat HVO units in April 1993.
After that, she laid a wreath also in Križančevo Selo in tribute to 74 local Croats killed by the Bosniak-led Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in late December 1993.
The president's unannounced visit to the two villages, which have become bywords for atrocities committed in the Croat-Bosniak conflict in 1993, was conducted without media coverage.
After the visit, a local imam in Ahmići said that the Croatian President thanked the hosts for being welcomed. He also said that the visit was "a significant message" in which Grabar-Kitarović called for peace and coexistence in the region.
During the attack on Ahmići near the town of Vitez in April 1993, the HVO (Bosnia Croat forces) killed 116 people, including 32 women and 11 children. On 22 December 1993, just before Christmas, the Bosniak forces attacked the village of Križančevo Selo, also in the vicinity of Vitez, killing 74 victims, including the elderly, women and children as well as HVO soldiers who defended them.
During his term in office, former Croatian President Ivo Josipović also paid a visit to Ahmići and Križančevo Selo to commemorate the victims.
