Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić paid tribute and laid wreaths today at the Kovači Cemetery in order to pay respects to the martyrs and the first President of the Presidency of B&H Alija Izetbegović on the occasion of March 1 - Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He reminded that courage and wisdom were needed to make a decision on the independence of B&H. Although at that time some did not agree with that.

-But such opportunities happen once in history. You get your state. It took courage to go that route. We paid dearly for it. Kovači are only a part of the price we paid to gain the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina- Komšić said in a statement for the media.

Even today, he added, Bosnia and Herzegovina should be defended, "because some kind of internal aggression against B&H flows through state institutions, which is absurd."

-Everyone is aware of what kind of battle is being fought at this moment in B&H, not with tanks, but a difficult battle to preserve this country as a multiethnic, country of equal people, to be introduced into NATO, the European Union- Komšić emphasized.