Several dozen students in Mostar, accompanied by Ukrainian refugees and city officials, held a peace march in downtown Mostar on Thursday, protesting against the Russian aggression against Ukraine and calling for warmongering in Bosnia and Herzegovina to cease.

The president of the Croatian Students’ Politological Forum, Martin Mikulic, who organised the protest rally, sent messages of support to the Ukrainian people.

“We want to clearly express our objection to the aggression and hope that the war will end soon and deter the aggressor,” Mikulic said in a statement to the media.

After the war in Ukraine erupted, the international community deployed 500 additional troops to strengthen the BiH peacekeeping mission, estimating that it could have a spillover effect. Mikulic condemned the rhetoric by several politicians in BiH who have been calling for taking up arms over the past few days.

“We, as young people and students, want to tell people who talk about war and call for taking up arms, that there won't be any war. Young people are not interested in war,” he added.

Mikulic said that the most important thing in BiH is to preserve the Dayton Peace Accord, which brought peace to the country.

Varvara Kolcova, a Ukrainian refugee who fled Ukraine with her three-year-old son, expressed her gratitude for the welcome she received in Mostar, adding that she expects Ukrainian refugees to return to their homes as soon as possible.

Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Međugorje more than twenty days ago on Thursday warned that their tourist visas would expire soon.

They called on BiH authorities to approve for them a three-month stay in the country, similar to what EU countries have done.