To mark the centennial of the beginning of World War I Bosnian Serbs unveiled a bronze statue on Friday of the man who assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, igniting a war which claimed roughly 10 million lives.
A statue of Gavrilo Princip was unveiled during a ceremony in Sarajevo, which included a reenactment of the June 28, 1914 shooting. It features a man dressed as Princip shooting a plastic gun at a replica of the open car carrying Ferdinand and his pregnant wife, who were both killed 100 years ago.
Bosnian Serb head of state Nebojsa Radmanovic was joined by the president and prime minister of neighbouring Serbia for the celebration.
“Gavrilo Princip was a freedom fighter and the Austro Hungarian empire was an occupier here,” said the president of the Bosnian Serb half of the country, Milorad Dodik, after he unveiled the two metre-high bronze statue.
The ceremony was a stark contrast to a separate and more sombre WWI memorial that was attended by European leaders in the Belgium city of Ypres.
World War I, known as “The Great War,” was defined by the use of machine-guns, artillery, and poison gas, which led to the deaths of millions and destroyed parts of Europe.
Princip was a 19-year-old nationalist when he assassinated the Austro-Hungarian royal; considered by historians as an act of terrorism, butrevered by some Serbians.
“These fighters for freedom 100 years ago have given us the direction to follow for the next 100 years,” Radmanovic reportedly told a crowd of about 1,000.
The EU is sponsoring a separate memorial celebration in Sarajevo on Saturday, which will feature the Vienna Philharmonic that is being boycotted by Serbian and Bosnian Serb leaders.
*With files from The Associated Press
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