Sarajevo, 13 February 2024. Participation to the international conference on “Parliamentary and religious leaders for coexistence and peace”.

A delegation of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), headed by the Secretary General, Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, visited Sarajevo in order to participate in the international conference with topic “Parliamentary and religious leaders for coexistence and peace”, held on Tuesday, 13th February 2024. The conference was co-organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Muslim World League (MWL). On behalf of the IAO, the head of the delegation of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Panikos Leonidou and the IAO Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis participated as well.

The conference’s sessions concerned the promotion of global and regional peace through meetings of parliamentary and religious leaders, highlighting the instrument of interfaith dialogue for building peace in multi-religious communities, and the role of parliamentarians in building cohesive societies. Parliamentarians from various countries, representatives of monotheistic religions, officials of International Organizations and members of the academic community participated in the conference.

On the sidelines of the international conference, the head of the interparliamentary institution had the opportunity to meet with the Bosnian President of the Parliament Mr. Denis Zvizdić, as well as with the head of the delegation of the House of Representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the IAO Ms. Snježana Novaković Bursać, and members of the delegation, Ms. Ljubica Miljanović and Mr. Čedomir Stojanović. The Bosnian Serb parliamentarians briefed the IAO Secretary General about the situation in the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and their participation as equal members in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while they accepted with satisfaction the proposal to organize the autumn meeting of the IAO International Secretariat for 2024 in Sarajevo.

The meeting between the IAO delegation and the Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL), co-organizer of the international conference, Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al Issa was of paramount importance. The head of the IAO invited the Saudi Sheikh to visit Athens for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding and cooperation between the two Organizations, while they explored the possibility of jointly organizing a forum on the peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding of peoples with different faiths. The IAO Secretary General underlined that “Interfaith and intercultural dialogue, respect for otherness and reconciliation is the sole path in a world that is aflame with conflicts between peoples of the same or other religions. Parliamentary and religious actors have a duty to condemn religious extremism and the invocation of religion as an alibi for military conflicts. At the same time, we must find common sustainable solutions for the prevalence of international peace and security and the promotion of positive models of peaceful coexistence of populations with different religious faiths”.

During the delegation’s stay in Sarajevo, the IAO members had the opportunity to hold a meeting with His Eminence Chrysostom, Metropolitan of Dabro-Bosnia. The hierarch of the Serbian Patriarchate thanked the IAO delegation for its presence and moral support to the Orthodox Serbs. The IAO Secretary General informed the hierarch about the intention of the IAO to hold the autumn meeting of the International Secretariat in the city of Sarajevo, while His Eminence expressed his pleasure and willingness to cooperate for the successful organization of the meeting.

The delegation attended the Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Archangels, known as the Old Church in Baščaršija, the oldest religious monument in the city of Sarajevo. The cleric, Fr. Velimir Divljanović, welcomed the delegation while the dean of the Theological School of the University of East Sarajevo, Fr. Vladislav Topalović, briefed the IAO members about the current situation of the Orthodox community in Sarajevo. Afterwards, there was a tour of the museum of ecclesiastical relics, with unique works of art of the Cretan school, by the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of East Sarajevo, Dr. Vladan Bartula.

Finally, the IAO delegation, accepting the invitation of the mayor of East Sarajevo, Mr. Ljubiša Ćosić, attended the events for the 40th anniversary since the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. Following the invitation of the mayor of the municipality of Sokolac, Mr. Milovan Bjelica, the IAO members visited the Holy Monastery of Ravna Romanija, dedicated to St. George, where there is a memorial for the four thousand deceased Serbs of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the ‘90s.