On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Old Bridge in Mostar, Croatian MEP Zeljana Zovko, who also serves as vice-president of the European People’s Party (EPP) Caucus, will present the "material and non-material heritage of Croatia and BiH" in the EU Parliament in Brussels. As an announcement of this event, a poster with the title "Legacy of Croatian heritage on the UNESCO list" was published, featuring the Old Bridge in Mostar. This caused many fierce reactions in the country.

Sanel Kajan, a Democratic Front (DF) representative in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, characterized this as “shameful”.

“I find that absolutely unacceptable and absolutely incorrect. I ask, will Zovko talk about the 30th anniversary of the demolition of the bridge, which was marked two months ago? I'm sure she won't. For years, they persistently ignored the day when the bridge collapsed. Fortunately, there are those who differ from the Croat Democratic Union’s (HDZ) opinion. Footage available to the public shows who demolished the Old Bridge. Will they talk about November 9 and about who demolished and who rebuilt the Old Bridge?” Kajan asked.

Former Mostar mayor and director of the Center for Peace and Multiethnic Cooperation of Mostar Safet Orucevic characterized this as a “shameful and stupid provocation.”

“The bridge is a world cultural heritage from Bosnia and Herzegovina, not Croatian heritage. For that project, I put in a lot of effort as a mayor, to get the World Bank and UNESCO as partners, several donor countries including Croatia led by Prime Minister Racan, who gave us full support. It was at a time when the only ‘cultural’ heritage that Croats had at that time in my city were concentration camps for their fellow citizens, killing of innocent people, rape, and destruction of the city, including the demolition of the Old Bridge, even exclusively filmed by the cameras of the Croatian Army. For all that, our fellow citizens were sentenced to over a hundred years in prison as a Joint Criminal Enterprise. When it comes to the Old Bridge, it was the Bosniaks who led the joint venture of reconstruction and reconciliation. We will continue to do this, but not with those who constantly provoke and stop all processes of normalization between peoples”, Orucevic stated.

The Head of the Mostar City Council, Salem Maric, stated that “the Old Bridge in Mostar is a cultural and historical heritage of BiH, which forms part of the aforementioned world heritage, and it would be correct for the Croatian MEP Zovko to present it as such”.

“Željana Zovko has no right to present the Old Bridge in Mostar as part of Croatian heritage. We are obliged by ours and the European public to react to the presentation of a poster on which the Old Bridge was portrayed as Croatian heritage and reject such attempts. The Old Bridge in Mostar is a cultural and historical heritage of the whole world, originated and preserved as the heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens. It represents one of the most valuable parts of the cultural heritage of the world and it is very malicious towards BiH and the people for whom the Old Bridge is one of the most important symbols to falsely inform the European public at this level. Also, there are historical facts and evidence, who built the Old Bridge, who demolished it, and who restored and preserved it, that's why I invite the highest representatives of BiH to send a reaction and protest note to this kind of act to the European Parliament,” Maric said.

The Canadian Genocide Research Institute also sent an open letter to Zeljana Zovko.

“European parliamentarian, you are making a shameful, gross forgery that only confirms your intentions towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. We recommend that you also tell that the Old Bridge was demolished in a joint criminal enterprise of the Croatian Defense Council and the Croatian Army, judged by international courts, as evidenced by the latest video of the demolition published last year. Stop with shameful provocations and falsehoods. Until you stop, we will remind you of the facts. The Old Bridge is a world cultural heritage from Bosnia and Herzegovina and not Croatian heritage. Denying the Old Bridge as a world cultural heritage from Bosnia and Herzegovina is radically inhumane and an absolute concept that destroys your reputation the most because the whole world knows very well whom the Old Bridge belongs. Precisely because of people like you, today more than ever, it is necessary to form and strengthen the historical awareness of the Old Bridge as an important cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the world,” the letter states, among other things.