Republika Srpska

CVIJANOVIĆ: DEATHS OF 12 BANJA LUKA BABIES REMAIN A STAIN ON HUMAN CONSCIENCE

Republika Srpska - Banja Luka - remembrance

05/22/2026

13:39

CVIJANOVIĆ: DEATHS OF 12 BANJA LUKA BABIES REMAIN A STAIN ON HUMAN CONSCIENCE
Photo: SRNA

BANJA LUKA, MAY 22 /SRNA/ - The Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović has stated that the deaths of the Banja Luka babies remain one of the most tragic events of the Homeland-Defense War and a symbol of the inhumanity of world powers that did not allow the air transport of urgently needed oxygen.

"It is a permanent stain on the face of humanity. We will forever remember their innocent sacrifice and we will forever remind those responsible with one question: What were they guilty of?" Cvijanović wrote on Instagram.

She stressed that this is the saddest question that has remained unanswered for 34 years.

"On this day in 1992, due to a lack of oxygen, the first baby died in the Banja Luka maternity ward. By June 19 of the same year, 11 more innocent lives had been extinguished. Slađana Kobas, the thirteenth star, carried the consequences of this tragedy until the age of 14, when she also passed away," Cvijanović reminded.

Cvijanović added that the agony caused by what she described as the inhumane attitude of the so-called international community ended only after the breakthrough of the Corridor, when a connection was established with the eastern parts of Republika Srpska and Serbia.

Today, Banja Luka marked 34 years since the deaths of 12 babies at the then Clinical Center, who died because world powers did not allow the transport of oxygen.