Thewesternbalkans
The President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik emphasized that in response to the resolution on Srebrenica at the UN, he will implement the measures “to achieve independence”.
Dodik said that the “Bosnian Muslim elite” gave themselves a serious “own goal” with the resolution on Srebrenica. “There will be no talks on the acceptance of the so-called resolution on Srebrenica. Peaceful separation is the only solution for all the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Dodik after the meeting of the ruling coalition parties in Banja Luka. He noted that Republika Srpska is able to defend itself against all attacks and that it will respect the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as long as it is not enforced against it.
Milorad Dodik again denied the genocide in Srebrenica. “The genocide in Srebrenica did not happen, and if it did, there would be no need to keep bringing up that topic. The judgments of the courts refer to individuals, not to the people,” he stated.
According to him “in the area of Srebrenica from 1992 to 1995, 4,100 Muslims were killed, and nowhere is it mentioned between 2,500 and 3,500 Serbs who were killed there. Genocide is a fabrication that will tear us apart. They want to make Srebrenica a synonym for genocide, and it is still not known how many people died”.
Comment: The formal initiators of the resolution on Srebrenica are Germany and Rwanda, and they were joined by 17 more countries including France, the US and Turkey and calls for July 11 to be declared the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide.
The Srebrenica massacre occurred in July 11, 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladić killed 8 000 Muslim men and boys in the enclave, which had been declared a UN safe area. The crime was recognized as genocide by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
A draft resolution will be presented to the UN Assembly for consideration on April 17 and will be voted on by the Assembly’s member states on May 2.
Тhis is not the first time that Dodik called for the separation of the Serbian component of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He faces sanctions from the US and UK over his policies, but has the support of Serbia and Russia. He is currently being prosecuted for refusing to comply with the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt. Republika Srpska does not recognize Schmidt’s authority, arguing that his election has not been confirmed by the UN Security Council.
