Former President Bill Clinton coming to Dayton to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords.
The 20th Anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords
The Dayton Peace Accords ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and were announced on Nov. 21, 1995 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's Hope Hotel and Conference Center. The agreement was formally signed December 14th in Paris and put an end to the horrific scenes of refugees and concentration camps that; according to the CIA, seemed unthinkable in modern Europe at the time.
After failed attempts by other diplomats, Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Holbrooke succeeded in bringing together Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, and Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic for peace talks. They assembled at WPAFB’s Hope Hotel and Conference Center in Dayton, OH on November 1st and initialed the Dayton Peace Accords 3 weeks later. The document was formally signed December 14th in Paris ending the worst war in Europe since World War II.
Richard Holbrooke served in a variety of diplomatic rolls including U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations passed away unexpectedly in 2010. The City of Dayton constructed and dedicated a memorial plaza in his memory at the corner of Salem and West Riverview Avenues yesterday (Nov 17, 2015).
The Dayton Council on World Affairs and the Dayton Sister Cities Committee hosted the Dayton Peace Accords Commemoration Dinner at Sinclair’s Ponitz Center with Dr. Ivo Komšic, Mayor of Sarajevo later Tuesday evening.
The Dayton Art Institute focus exhibit, “20 Years Later: In Celebration Of The Dayton Peace Accords” features a painting on loan from the University of Dayton and two works from DAI's permanent collection commemorating the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords.
The Dayton Peace Accords at 20 Conference takes place Thursday and Friday (Nov. 19 & 20) at the University of Dayton River Campus. Former President William Jefferson Clinton, in office at the time the accords were reached will be Thursday’s featured luncheon speaker.
