News

Croatian President and EFA President open Mostar Spring Festival together

22 April 2010

The official opening of the 2010 edition of the festival „The Spring of Mostar“ in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place on 15 April 2010. Among the official guests and speakers were Ivo Josipović, President of the Republic of Croatia, and Darko Brlek, President of the European Festivals Association (EFA). “Mostar Spring not only joins the two banks of this miraculously beautiful city but also promotes the cooperation and dialogue in the region. One’s own culture is not preserved through isolation,” said Croatian President Josipović. In his speech opening the festival, EFA President Darko Brlek pointed out that there is no better place than Mostar where the mission of the European Festivals Association, which had been founded in response to the Cold War and the division of Europe, could be manifested. ”Our mission is to make use of the power of culture in the European integration process. It is culture that connects people in the best possible way,” said Brlek. “The Spring of Mostar” became a member of the European Festivals Association in 2009. It is a manifestation, as the president of the Matica Hrvatska Mostar Josip Muselimović said at the opening, that has put the City of Mostar on the map of big and important cultural metropolises of the Old Continent. The opening ceremony was followed by a gala opera evening under the title “Sarajevo at Mostar Spring”. The Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by maestro Ivo Lipanović.