Venezuelan diplomat, former UN Security Council President Diego Arria has arrived in Sarajevo, whose authorities has declared him an honorary citizen. Arria had first visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1993 during the siege of Sarajevo, and has since then remained a friend of the country. He spoke to N1 about his first visit and how he feels about the country.

“Every time I come to Bosnia and Herzegovina it is a different feeling, but one that remains always inside me is the one when I came here on April 26, 1993 when the city was burning and people suffering,” Arria said, describing how he landed at the airport, was picked up by the UNPROFOR and pushed through a corridor into an armoured vehicle.

But, yesterday it was different because he arrived with his daughter, presented his passport at the airport and there was a car the City of Sarajevo provided waiting for him there.

“Those were two completely different experiences.”

Asked what is he sure about when it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its future, Arria said that when he compares the situation back in the war and today, it gives him the sense of hope that people in Sarajevo cannot be defeated.

The Venezuelan said he was in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital now because he would officially be declared an honorary citizen of Sarajevo, adding that he is very grateful for that. He said he did not ask to meet anyone in authorities nor he initiated that but that next time he could be welcomed in a different way, as an honorary Sarajevo citizen.

He also spoke about the denial of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that he was shocked by the reactions to the law amendments that ban the genocide denial.