Serbia's “responsibility towards Srebrenica cannot be shut down by silence”, Kosovo commemorates genocide victims

The International Day of Memory and Memorial of Genocide in Srebrenica, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, was marked in Kosovo through a memorial ceremony organised by former Kosovo Assembly Vice President Emilja Rexhepi.

In her speech, Rexhepi stressed that Srebrenica should not only be remembered as a tragedy of the past, but as a warning of the consequences of hatred, extreme nationalism and silence in the face of crime.

“Srebrenica is the name of Europe's greatest shame after World War II”, she said, underlining that genocide was a planned and organised crime proven by international courts.

Rexhepi also criticised the ongoing denial of genocide, warning that failure to face the past poses a danger of repeating similar crimes in the future.

Kosovo President Albulen Haxhiu's post, who said Kosovo stands near Bosnia and Herzegovina and the families of Srebrenica victims, also spoke at the ceremony.

According to her, although international justice has condemned dozens of people for crimes committed, the challenge remains to confront societies with the past and reject the legalisation of war criminals.

There can be no justice without the truth, but neither peace”, Haxhi said, adding that presenting war crimes convicts as heroes undermines the reconciliation process and conveys dangerous messages to new generations.

The incumbent Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said the genocide denial affects not only the memory of the victims but also the threat to the future.

According to him, the responsibility for genocide in Srebrenica cannot be overlooked with general statements of reconciliation, without previously accepting historical truth.

Kurti stressed that genocide was the result of a policy that used nationalism, propaganda and state institutions for the realisation of ethnic cleansing.

<x0m> The ban removes authors from responsibility, forces victims to prove their pain indefinitely and presents justice as an obstacle to stability. In reality, stability is threatened just when societies do not distance themselves from those killed in their name. Serbia's responsibility for Srebrenica cannot be closed with silence, nor can it be replaced by a general language for reconciliation. Genocide was not a random avoidance from the course of history, but the consequence of a policy that turned nationalism into the project, propaganda in preparation for violence, while the state camera on ethnic cleansing instrument”, Kurti said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliamentary MP Xhemal Smajic attended the memorial ceremony, who said the commemoration of the victims is not only related to the past, but also to the responsibility to build a future where such crimes are no longer repeated.

He stressed that Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina share similar experiences from the wars of the '90s and have common interest in respecting international law and democratic values.

An Albanian deputy in Serbia's Parliament, Shaip Kamberi, also delivered a speech, which said a sincere and complete confrontation in Serbia is still lacking with the genocide in Srebrenica.

He said efforts to discuss and adopt a resolution on condemning genocide in Serbia's Parliament have been hampered for years.

According to Camber, denying genocide and cloning war criminals continue to remain serious obstacles to reconciliation among peoples and the region's European path.