Starting on July 11, 1995, Serbian forces rounded up over 8,000 Bosniak Muslims in the UN-declared “safe area” of Srebrenica and murdered them solely because of their ethnicity and religion.
Today, in accordance with resolutions from the Kosova Parliament (July 7, 2021), the European Parliament (July 9, 2015), and most recently, the UN General Assembly on May 23, the Government of the Republic of Kosova held a moment of silence. They joined other states in designating July 11 as the annual day of remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide.
The massacre in Srebrenica demonstrated to the entire world the great evil that the Milosevic regime was capable of. Tragically, it also foreshadowed Serbia’s genocidal campaign in Kosova a few years later.
Remembering Srebrenica is crucial, especially now as Serbia rekindles its expansionist ambitions against both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosova while still refusing to apologize for or even acknowledge its genocidal past.
For the victims, for the survivors, and for peace in the Balkans for all future time, we must remember.
