By preventing the units of the then Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from occupying the building of the Presidency of BiH on May 2, 1992, the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defended, Anadolu agency reported Sunday. Therefore, May 2, 1992, is one of the key dates in the survival of an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tanks and armoured personnel carriers of the then Yugoslav National Army (JNA) were stopped by the superhuman efforts of the defenders gathered in the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH), in Skenderija, only a hundred meters from the building of the Presidency building.

The JNA's goal was to take hold of the building, eliminating Bosnia's leadership headed by the then President Alija Izetbegovic. That was when a decisive battle for the defence of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina took place. It is known as the Battle for the Presidency.

That was the day when the siege of Sarajevo also became apparent. From that day, Sarajevo residents were forced to live without water, food and electricity, with constant shelling and sniper fire for the next 1,425 days.

That was also the date when the former President of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic, was arrested by the JNA, and Presidency member Fikret Abdic was getting ready to take over the office.

The Battle for the Presidency ended with the triumph of Sarajevans, and President Izetbegovic was exchanged the day later in the Dobrovoljacka street.

This date is not marked in Bosnia's Serb-dominated region of Republika Srpska, or the Herzegovina region mostly populated by Bosnian Croats.