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Serbian Lawmakers Condemn 1995 Srebrenica Killings
By Aleksandra Nenadovic and James M. Gomez
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Serbia’s Parliament condemned the 1995 Srebrenica murder of 8,000 Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina for the first time as Balkan nations try to heal the wounds of the 1990s civil wars and move closer to the European Union.
The resolution was passed by 127 lawmakers in the 250- member Belgrade-based assembly last night, including members of the pro-western Democratic Party, the G17 Plus party and an alliance led by the Socialist Party of Serbia. The opposition opposed the document, saying it should have condemned all war crimes during the Balkan conflicts, including those committed against Serbs.
“Lawmakers delivered a very important message,” said Parliamentary Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic in a phone interview in Belgrade today. “It was difficult for all of us to come to terms and make peace with this decision.”
The former Yugoslav republics, including Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, are trying to reform their justice systems and put the enmity of Europe’s bloodiest fighting since World War II behind them to clinch closer trade ties with the EU and eventually join the 27-nation bloc. Croatia wants to follow Slovenia into the EU by 2012, while Serbia is seeking to win a trade agreement to strengthen an economy shattered by war and hobbled by corruption and the global financial crisis.
‘Condolences and Apologies’
The Liberal Democratic Party, a pro-western opposition party, joined the opposition by arguing the resolution stopped short of describing the Srebrenica killings as genocide.
The Srebrenica resolution denounces the crimes committed against the Bosnian Muslim population of Srebrenica in July 1995, according to the findings of the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice, which said the Serbian state failed to stop the bloodshed, though it didn’t commit genocide.
The resolution offers “condolences and apologies to the families of the victims because Serbia didn’t do enough to stop the tragedy” and “calls on other countries of the former Yugoslavia to condemn in the same way crimes were committed against Serbs during the war.”
“I condemn all crimes committed on the territory of former Yugoslavia, especially the crime in Srebrenica,” said Tomislav Nikolic, leader of Serbia’s Progressive Party, according to state broadcaster Radiotelevizija Srbije’s Web site. “Such a declaration was needed, but the ruling coalition wants us to declare the whole nation guilty. Nations don’t commit crimes, individuals do.”
‘Tragic Chapter’
Serbian legislators also supported the work of all state bodies tasked with the manhunt for war-crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, who commanded Bosnian Serb troops during the 1992-1995 war. The UN war crimes court in The Hague has issued a warrant for his arrest.
“With the adoption of the declaration, Serbia is closing a tragic chapter and opening a new one of peace and tolerance,” said lawmaker Nada Kolundzija from the ruling Democratic party before the vote, according to the newspaper Politika.
The vote comes as Balkan nations are trying to spark an economic recovery in the region and win the EU’s confidence. Slovenia, the only former Yugoslav republic to be a member of the bloc, and Croatia led a one-day summit on March 20 to coordinate EU-entry efforts in the region.
Still, the way forward is patchy as the region’s bloody recent past hinders progress. Serbia boycotted the summit because it gave the breakaway province of Kosovo the same status as the other states. Serbia considers Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, which the EU supports, to be invalid.
The Progressive Party’s Nikolic said his country’s slow work to integrate with the EU is about economics, not politics.
“Serbia is having troubles with its EU entry bid not because of failing to adopt such resolutions, but because factories are idle, the government is spending beyond its means and because of corruption,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Aleksandra Nenadovic in Belgrade at anenadovic@bloomberg.net. James M. Gomez in Prague at jagomez@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 31, 2010 03:57 EDT
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