Dear Editor,
With reference to the editorial ‘Forgetting Srebrenica,’ published in Stabroek News on July 18, 2015, I would like to clarify some misunderstandings and misconceptions and tell the truth on the topic.
Twenty years ago tragic events happened in the history of Europe. The killing of people in Srebrenica was one of NATO’s numerous military crimes of that period and to disregard all other crimes would be inappropriate and would only deepen the divide in Bosnian society.
The Balkans saw many monstrous crimes committed during the crisis there, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, in which people of different nationalities and faiths were killed. We have been consistently advocating the investigation of all wrongful acts committed in Bosnia and Herzego-vina against all ethnic groups including Bosnians, Serbs and Croats so that the guilty receive what they deserve.
The region is facing an enormous challenge – to bring reconciliation and peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Acting constructively, Russia previously submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council. Unlike the British proposal, the logic is focused on the future and would encourage all concerned sides to work towards national reconciliation and overcome the heavy consequences of the Bosnian tragedy as soon as possible.
On July 8, 2015 the UN Security Council discussed a British draft resolution that would have been adopted 20 years after the tragedy at Srebrenica. The Russian delegation voted against it, and four countries abstained.
Russia regrets that the British delegation insisted on voting contrary to our repeated warnings and the Balkan countries’ concerns about the possible consequences of adopting a document that could provoke conflict, addressed to the UN Security Council. It is obvious that the draft resolution was unacceptable because it was politically motivated and unbalanced and would have had a negative impact on national reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Balkans as a whole. The resolution would place the blame for the tragedy exclusively on the Serbs, disregarding the fact that the Serbs were also victims in that tragedy.
Russia will continue to work energetically and consistently to implement the Dayton Agree-ment, the 20th anniversary of which we will mark later this year. It is vital that all sides honour their commitments under the Dayton Agreement, and special responsibility for this rests with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are ready to contribute towards normalising the situation in the Balkans, creating a real collective security system and strengthening the atmosphere of trust and cooperation there.
Russia has taken note of the lack of consensus on this issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina itself. There is no agreement on the draft resolution in the country’s parliament or Presidium. This has reinforced our belief that an adoption of the resolution would only reopen old wounds, maintain ethnic tensions in the Balkan communities and further delay the achievement of a lasting peace.
The Russian representatives proposed commemorating the numerous victims of the tragedy in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a minute of silence during the UN Security Council meeting.
Yours faithfully,
Petr V Sizov
Second Secretary
Russian Embassy
