Bosnia Museum Re-opens After Three-Year Wait

Some of Bosnia most valuable items of heritage are now on display once again Bosnia's National Museum finally re-opened on Tuesday with a ceremony attended by dozens of pupils.

The museum managers decided to close the institution on October 4, 2012, after years of struggling with financial problems.

Three years later, the authorities found a way to finance it from budget reserves but also from donations, including one from the US embassy.

"It's a great day for the children... a very important moment for the next generation in Bosnia and Herzegovina," US ambassador Maureen Cormack said, announcing a donation of more than 500,000 euro for repair works to the museum that would come from the embassy's fund for culture.

The director of the Museum, Adnan Busuladzic, thanked both Cormack and the authorities but then said he was resigning, arguing that his goal to re-open the museum was now achieved.

The Council of Ministers, Bosnia's state-level government, approved around 300,000 euro for the administration of the staff.

Groups of students came for the reopening, organized by schools or individually, to see the museum interior, walk in the botanical garden and see the exhibits, which show the cultural and historic heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Senad, 18, from the High School for Metalworking Occupation in Sarajevo, told BIRN that he was delighted the Museum had re-opened and that everyone could see the treasures inside.

"I am glad it is open for people to know who we are, so those who come to Sarajevo can know our museums, the way we visit theirs," he said.

His colleague Adnan added that it was high time it reopened because the museum represented a kind of birth-certificate for the country. ...