Sarajevo lit up its landmark City Hall in the colours of the Austrian flag on Monday to mark the Austrian National Day, a public holiday in the country marking the date when it signed the 1955 Declaration of Neutrality.

Austrian Ambassador to Bosnia, Ulrike Hartmann, spoke via video-link at the ceremony in Sarajevo.

She noted that Austria is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of it becoming a full EU member state, adding that EU membership has produced great economic benefits to the country.

The year 2020 also marks 100 years since the 1920 Austrian Constitution was adopted and the country’s Constitutional Court was established with its competencies.

“Thanks to this legal framework, Austria can now speak of its long tradition of rule of law and democracy, excluding the period between 1933 and 1945,” the ambassador said.

She stressed that Austria strongly supports EU expansion and it always prepared to help its friends on that path.

The Austrian National Day celebration in Sarajevo was also marked with an interpretation of ‘The Blue Danube’ by Johann Strauss II and ‘Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in D major’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.