The Croatian government will support the establishment of the Croatian Memorial Centre for Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Nova Bila church, which was a hospital for thousands of wounded in central Bosnia during the war, said Veterans' Minister Tomo Medved, the HDZ BiH reported on Monday.

During the celebration of the anniversary of the Holy Spirit parish in Nova Bila, the leader of the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Covic, presented an initiative to make the church there, known as the church-hospital from the Homeland War, a central place dedicated to the suffering of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I am sure that we will quickly start implementing the project at the place where we saved the lives of the Croatian people during the Homeland War, Covic said, as quoted by the HDZ BiH.

He was in this central Bosnian town with Croatia's Veterans Affairs Minister Tomo Medved.

“As the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans, together with our hosts, we will make an effort to permanently preserve the memory of humanity through the Memorial Centre which is visible here more than anywhere else,” said Medved.

About 80,000 Croats in Central Bosnia were under siege by the forces of the Bosniak Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 and the beginning of 1994 for eight full months. The Franciscan church in Nova Bila was the only place where more complex medical procedures, including surgical procedures, were performed during that time. About 3,500 wounded soldiers and civilians were treated there.