Srebrenica Genocide: UN resolution sparks Balkan debate

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 12 - 29 years after the Srebrenica massacre the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on Srebrenica genocide and establishes an International Day of Reflection and Commemoration. The vote is controversial among Balkan countries, but the EU made its continuous position clear in an official statement - "there is no place" in the EU for those who deny the Srebrenica genocide and try to "rewrite the history".
    Victims.
    Europe and the world commemorated the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, often described as the worst crime committed on European soil since World War II. Ceremonies were held at the Potočari Memorial Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and also in many European countries and in the United States.
    The massacre took place in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995 and on subsequent days. Most of the victims were Bosniak men and boys - Bosnian Muslims - who had been separated from the women, girls and small children who were bused to territory controlled by the Bosnian army.
    According to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY), around 8,000 Bosniaks were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated by Serbian soldiers from BiH. According to the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH, about 800 victims are still being searched for.
    The remains of 14 genocide victims identified over the past year, including one minor, were buried on July 11, 2024 at the Memorial Center in Potočari, where a total of 6,751 victims have been laid to rest. The Bosnia and Herzegovina war between Croats, Muslims (Bosniaks) and Serbs claimed approximately 100,000 lives between 1992 and 1995. Nearly three decades since the war ended, the Balkan nation remains deeply divided along ethnic lines.
    The UN had placed Srebrenica under its protection in 1993. A Dutch unit of peacekeepers was tasked with protecting the refugees in the enclave. But on July 11, 1995, units of Serbs from BiH overran Srebrenica. The peacekeepers failed to protect the victims. In 2022, the Netherlands apologised to the victims' families for their part in the failure to protect them.
    Punishment of perpetrators.
    The ICTY and the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) have established legally that genocide was perpetrated.
    The political head of the Serbs from BiH at the time, Radovan Karadžić, and Ratko Mladić, the commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, were handed life sentences by the ICTY. In addition to the leaders, at least 47 others involved were convicted of crimes in Srebrenica, receiving a total of more than 700 years in prison.
    Denial of the Srebrenica genocide is virtually state policy in Serbia and in the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the entity in BiH where Serbs are the majority), known as Republika Srpska. The perpetrators are seen as heroes by many there.
    Adoption of the UN Resolution.
    The 1995 Srebrenica genocide will in future be marked around the world on July 11, following a vote by the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in late May this year.
    The day is to be officially marked from next year, 30 years after the event.
    The resolution written by Germany and Rwanda - countries synonymous with genocide in the 20th century - received 84 votes in favor, 19 against with 68 abstentions and makes July 11 "International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide".
    Supporters included the US, the UK, most of the EU, numerous Muslim countries and the whole of the former Yugoslavia, with the exception of Serbia, among others. China and Russia voted against the UN resolution, as did Hungary (member of EU). Three EU member states, Cyprus, Slovakia and Greece, abstained.
    The vote caused an international stir and controversy among the Balkan countries. Some states had differing positions internally. For example Bulgaria, where according to media reports the cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev had tried to withdraw from the UN resolution.
    Sources claim that a cable from Glavchev to Bulgaria's UN Permanent Representative Lachezara Stoeva demanded a last-minute change in Bulgaria's position before the UN vote on the Srebrenica resolution. Stoeva allegedly ignored Glavchev's instructions and Bulgaria supported the resolution, which it had co-authored.
    Commenting on Bulgaria's position, the country's President, Rumen Radev, said that it is inappropriate for the government to show hesitation and inconsistency given that the country was a co-author.
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    (The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, ANSA, BTA, dpa, EFE, FENA, STA, Tanjug).
    (ANSA).