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SREBRENICA, January 30 (FENA) – Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec discussed the situation in Srebrenica with municipal officials today, following an incident that occurred at First Elementary School when the photo of students celebrating the Chetniks in the school premises appeared in public.
After meeting with representatives of local authorities, Ambassador Kavalec said that participants of the meeting concluded that tensions must relieve in Srebrenica.
“Local leaders and politicians play a very important role in the leadership of their community. They should set an example and contribute to improving community relations,” she said.
She stated that they discussed what is the focus of the OSCE's interest, and how the response to incidents that are caused by intolerance and prejudice can be improved.
“Our biggest concern is always the students, and I think it is important for them to be the ones who understand what attention is focused on their activities. Among other things, as leaders and as parents, we need to understand what impact their activities can have on the environment. This is not an incident that is not happening in other communities, but it is our role as leaders and parents to make children understand the environment they live and grow up with. This is especially important for activities on social media,” Kavalec emphasized.
Mayor of Srebrenica Mladen Grujičić announced that this topic will be discussed tomorrow at the thematic session of the Srebrenica Municipal Assembly.
“It is important that we have reached an agreement at the collegium before the meeting to include information on these recent developments in the thematic session tomorrow, in order to reach a common position on calming tensions. These are minor children who are not subject to criminal liability. It is worrying that many threats have been made to these children, parents, and even to me because I stood up for the protection of these children. If you ask me what happened at school, nothing happened. Pictures taken at the school were posted outside the school and on social networks,” said Grujičić.
He further states that "the incident was actually what happened on January 29 is that students boycotted classes in a manner not provided by law".
"A large group of people entered the school without identification, without any order, and this can be called an incident," Grujičić said, dismissing the assessment of the vulnerability of Bosniak students.
Srebrenica City Assembly Speaker Nedib Smajić said all the problems arose when photos of students with Chetniks post were published.
“The incident occurred when the photo appeared. The Bosniaks did not impose anything. Everyone is well aware of this, they wrote 'Chetnik Brothers' post in the photo. I condemn every threat, especially to children. Tensions should be relieved and problems should be resolved,” Smajić said.
He states that there were similar problems a year ago and that parents submitted requests to which they never received an answer. The School Board and the Parents Council, he added, are not functioning.
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