SARAJEVO: Organizers of an event in which almost 7,000 couples kissed simultaneously in a Bosnian town on Saturday said their effort deserved a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
A total of 6,980 couples kissed for 10 seconds at the main square of the northeastern town of Tuzla, some 120 km north of Sarajevo, said local radio station Kameleon which organized the event.
Tuzla is the city of love. We are the champions, Kristina Gligorovic, an organizer, told the crowd of some 20,000 people who gathered for the occasion.
Muslim clerics in Tuzla called for a boycott of the event, arguing it was not in line with Muslim tradition. Muslims account for 44 percent of Bosnia s 3.8 million population, the last 1991 census showed.
Tuzla mayor Jasmin Imamovic took part in the event with his wife.
People are longing for love. The time has come that besides the Philippines and Hungary someone from southeastern Europe breaks the kissing record, he said before the event.
The Philippines and Hungary are known for their rivalry for the kissing crown.
The Asian country set the Guinness world record in February 2004 with 5,327 couples, but were overtaken by Hungary with 5,875 couples in 2005.
The Philippines came back in February this year, with 6,124 couples in Manila to regain the record — but Hungary responded again in June, when it produced 6,613 smooching couples.
In August Hungary claimed the new record with 7,451 kissing couples, but according to Bosnian organizers, it was not officially certified as the world record.
Apart from Bosnia, couples from neighboring Croatia and Serbia as well as Albania, Macedonia and Slovenia also took part in the event.
The organizers said they would submit the footage of the event and couples registration forms to the Guinness World Records body to officially certify it.
