Translated by Ollie Richardson

17:52:01
06/11/2017

ria.ru

The unveiling of a monument to the permanent representative of the Russian Federation at the UN Vitaly Churkin in Eastern Sarajevo is a milestone event and an expression of gratitude to Russia for its fundamental politics in the Balkans, said the Russian Ambassador in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BaH) Pyotr Ivantsov on Monday to RIA Novosti.

The monument was established in the afternoon in the Eastern, inhabited mainly by Serbians part of Sarajevo. It consists of a memorial plaque on a black pedestal with Vitaly Churkin’s portrait, name in the Russian language, and years of life (1952-2017), and also the inscription “Thanks for Russian No”. The initiator of the installation of the monument was the Bosnian-Serbian NGO “Eastern Alternative” with the assistance of the Embassy of Russia in BaH.

“The unveiling of a monument to the outstanding Russian diplomat Vitaly Ivanovich Churkin in Eastern Sarajevo is a milestone event. It is a tribute to the dearly departed permanent representative of Russia at the UN, whose life was closely connected to the events in the Balkans. Vitaly Ivanovich, as the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation, made a big contribution to the termination of the war to BaH, the political settlement in this country, the process of stabilization, and its post-conflict development,” said the Russian Ambassador in BaH to the agency.