Srebrenica: what message does the UN day of remembrance send?
From 2025 onwards, 11 July will be marked annually as the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide, after the UN General Assembly passed a corresponding resolution last Thursday by 84 votes to 19, with 68 abstentions. On 11 July 1995, Bosnian Serbs murdered 8,000 Muslims near the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia vehemently opposed the resolution: Belgrade sees it as branding all Serbs as supporters of genocide.
Serbs not condemned as a people
For Vreme, Belgrade's resistance is misplaced:
“It should be made clear to the public that the resolution on Srebrenica does not declare the Serb people as a whole to be a genocidal nation. And that those convicted of this crime have first and last names. The best known are Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, whom Vučić knew very well. It is they who were convicted of genocide, not the Serbs, Serbia or the Republika Srpska. If anyone has imposed collective responsibility on the people, it is the current government with its campaign against the Srebrenica resolution.”
Politically unhelpful
For Izvestia the resolution is potentially dangerous:
“Of course, the mere fact of adopting this document will not lead to major institutional changes - the Western countries will simply have another argument in their political negotiations with Belgrade. But the echo of the resolution could lead to the collapse of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the declaration of independence of Republika Srpska - apparently the intentions of [its president] Milorad Dodik in this regard remain extremely serious. Whether the scandalous resolution will lead to a new major conflict in the Balkans remains to be seen. But the idea that it will bring peace and harmony to the region is illusory.”
Moral obligation fulfilled
Ukrainska Pravda welcomes the resolution:
“The international community has fulfilled its moral duty. ... The struggle against those who deny the genocide is becoming global. The decision is also important for Ukraine, because the world has witnessed the genocide committed by the Russian occupiers. And this must be punished. The resolution just adopted by the UN creates the conditions for an effective battle against genocide and for the punishment of its perpetrators.”
This Serbia has no place in the EU
Serbian nationalism remains a problem, writes Jutarnji list:
“Those who think that ex-Yugoslavia belongs entirely in the EU should be shown what Aleksandar Vučić, who personifies today's Serbia, is doing. ... This Serbia despises the democratic values that most people in the EU respect, and Vučić's regime and style of government are no different from the way Erdoğan runs Turkey. ... Serbia is also destructive for the region because it is blocking even the smallest attempts to emancipate Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo. And Vučić is not alone in this, but enjoys the support of the majority of Serbs as well as all key institutions, led by the Serbian Orthodox Church.”