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STRASBOURG, July 11 (FENA) - At the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the 28th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica was marked, where at the very beginning the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Matsola, reminded that on this day 28 years ago, almost 30 thousand people were deported, while almost eight thousand people were brutally murdered, mostly men and boys who asked to be protected in Srebrenica.
"Those were such atrocities that were almost unspeakable, but we must talk about it, we must remember the victims and warn the world about what happened so that such a thing never happens again. The genocide in Srebrenica will always haunt us. Years later we see the denial that there was a genocide. We have false narratives and war criminals are glorified," she said.
He points out that it is their duty to raise their voice against such a narrative and remind the world of the truth that cannot be denied.
"Last weekend was 500 days since Russia's invasion of independent and sovereign Ukraine began. That war showed all the cruelty of Putin's regime. The European Parliament will never turn a blind eye to the existence of war crimes and we must ensure that something like the genocide in Srebrenica never happens again," noted Matsola.
The EP's special rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paulo Rangel, pointed out that today we remember all the victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of all religions.
"The history of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the history of Europe, of different religions, of war and conflict, of reconciliation and peace, of hope for the future because the darkest moments in Europe were just a prelude to reconciliation. Fifty years after Auschwitz, Srebrenica happened and our failure to act is a cause of great regret. We were just witnesses of Srebrenica. We are still only witnesses. We must return to Srebrenica, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, to learn the painful lesson that justice cannot be combined with impunity and that peace and aggression are not mutually reconcilable," believes Rangel.
MP Dietmar Köster spoke on behalf of the Club of Representatives of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, who emphasized that the biggest war crime in Europe after the Second World War took place in July 1995, while the world, as he stated, was just watching this shame of Europe and the United Nations.
He reminded that more than 20 people were accused and sentenced for genocide and emphasized that the families of the victims must find out what happened to their loved ones, especially stating that many victims have not yet been found.
Klemen Grošelj, representing the "Renew Europe" Club of Representatives, added that the fight for fundamental freedoms and human rights must never lose its importance.
"When I think of Srebrenica, I think of 1995, when I was about to finish high school, and that was my biggest concern. A few hundred kilometers from me, terrible atrocities were taking place. There was also Vukovar, Škabrnja, as well as many other places in the former Yugoslavia, but Srebrenica was the most terrible crime," Grošelj remembered.
He says that the biggest problem today is the cynicism of murderers, the lack of empathy and humanity.
"Due to lack of empathy, Srebrenica happened. This is a permanent reminder of evil. It's amazing what can happen when a lack of empathy, propaganda and extreme nationalism combine. Responsibility for genocide is always individual, but those who deny genocide and glorify war crimes must not be in the EU," he emphasized.
Tineke Strik, on behalf of the Greens Club, pointed out that the international community offered false hopes in 1995 and failed to prevent the genocide of more than eight thousand Bosniak boys and men who were killed, while women were raped and deported.
"Some wounds are never healed, but with commemoration, we give a voice to people who clearly say that justice does not tolerate impunity. We must remind ourselves of the wounds, although they never heal, and we must learn from them," she underlined.
Angel Dzhambazki, on behalf of the Club of Representatives of European Conservatives and Reformists, emphasized that the genocide was a war crime against humanity "carried out by Serb paramilitary forces."
"Before Srebrenica we had Croatia, and before that we had Slovenia. That crime is the result of Europe's indecisive policy to prevent the crimes in the former Yugoslavia. The UN peacekeeping forces shamefully handed over those people, and you must not forget that the Greater Serbian dreams were always encouraged by the Kremlin. Genocide was committed against all those who did not want to belong to the world of Yugoslavia," Dzhambazki believes.
At the end, Nikolaj Villumsen from the Club of Representatives of the Left in the European Parliament spoke and emphasized that never again should the international community turn a blind eye to mass murders, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
(FENA) S. R.
