Josipovic is the second Croatian recipient of this award. The first was incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Among the other recipients are Slovenian President Borut Pahor, former Austrian president Heinz Fischer, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The award, named after the 15th century Ottoman governor of Bosnia who is considered the founder of Sarajevo as an urban centre, was established in 2002 by the Klepsidra foundation, which promotes Bosnia and Herzegovina's multicultural and multiethnic heritage.
At a ceremony attended, among others, by Bosnian Presidency member Sefik Dzaferovic and the international community's High Representative Valentin Inzko, the president of the jury said Josipovic had not only encouraged dialogue and carefully built Croatian-Bosnian relations but made them mutually beneficial.
Josipovic said he saw the award "as a recognition of the way in which I built the relations between our states and peoples." He added that as president he had tried to set a new course of Croatia's foreign policy despite those who did not know how to or want to build peace.