On May 23, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution declaring July 11 as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Serbian forces in this eastern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina killed over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Germany and Rwanda, passed with 84 votes in favor, 19 against, and 68 abstentions.
The adoption of this resolution was seen as a major blow to the state of Serbia and its president.
Aleksandar Vučić, after the UN General Assembly session in which the Resolution on the Srebrenica genocide was adopted, said it “ended his career and many things will not be forgiven.”
Frustrated that he failed to stop the adoption of this resolution, Vučić made statements as if his political career was over.
“I closed my career here tonight. Many things will not be forgiven. This was like a nail in my coffin. I did everything, they did everything to humiliate us, and we climbed to heights. I can’t say we won because this is the procedure, but it is clear to everyone what the result is,” he said in a speech to journalists in New York.
The Serbian president is known for controversial and provocative statements, and this one appears to be another tactic to draw attention.
Naturally, after this decision, Serbia will attempt to stir conflicts in the region, especially in Kosovo.
But does Vučić have any concrete plans for this?
Preqi: The Resolution Adopted at the UN Was a Living Death for Vučić
For this issue, Dedë Preqi spoke to “Bota sot.”
Firstly, he said that May 23 was marked as a historic day, commemorating the horrors in Srebrenica.
He also mentioned Dodik and Vučić‘s lobbying efforts to prevent the adoption of this resolution, which failed.
“On May 23, 2024, at the UN Assembly, the genocide resolution was adopted to mark and remember the human madness and horror in Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, caused by the Serbian regime, with the killing and massacre of 8,000 Bosniaks, a day that will remain in the most infamous and genocidal history dedicated to an innocent people.
Even though Serbia, led by Vučić, and Republika Srpska, led by Dodik, lobbied extremely in almost all member countries of this organization, they could not prevent such an initiative, out of 193 countries, where the majority was in favor, with 32 countries co-sponsoring it, led by Germany and Rwanda, also drafting its text.
This Resolution declared July 11 as the International Day in Remembrance of the Genocide Victims in Srebrenica, where 8,000 innocent Bosniaks were killed by Serbian criminals led by Mladić and Karadžić in 1995,” the commentator declared.
Preqi also said that Vučić ‘lost control’ after the UN session, clearly showing he was one of the main culprits.
“Rwanda also had such a fate in 1994, in Central Africa, during a civil war, where Hutu extremists killed and massacred 800,000 innocent people, and in 2003, UN member states initiated a similar resolution, declaring April 7 as the International Day in Remembrance of these genocide victims.
The resolution and its adoption at the UN for Serbian genocide caused strong reactions from the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, who at that moment in the UN headquarters, lost control, mocking the countries that supported such a decision, wrapping himself in the Serbian flag, a way of protecting himself with his back to the wall, clearly showing he had the main burden on his shoulders and as a direct culprit,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, the commentator spoke about Vučić’s statement, saying his political career is over, hinting that he is waiting for another resolution dedicated to the Kosovo massacres.
“Although it is said that this resolution does not address anyone, not even Serbia and Republika Srpska, then against whom was such a resolution adopted, which clearly shows for whom this initiative was undertaken, which caused a terrible human tragedy, the authors of this genocide and crime were directly linked to the commands of the Serbian leadership in Belgrade and Bosnia.
After this session approved at the UN, the Serbian president Vučić, besides being revolted and like a madman, said that, as if his career is over and many things will not be forgiven. This means that Vučić knew he would not find salvation from this resolution but had ‘a fly under his cap’ that he is also waiting for another resolution dedicated to the innocent Albanian people of Kosovo in the years 1998-99,” Preqi emphasized.
Moreover, he said that the intentions of the Serbian president are known, while he said that the internationals are loosening the reins for him.
“Vučić’s intentions are now known, that he wanted to win this battle and others would win more easily, but now it seems that the career of his deceptions and labyrinths has ended, and now it seems he has no face to appear on the stage before his people and the international community, because he will be pointed at and in the history of humanity will be marked as a genocidal Serbia.
Even today, Serbia and its leadership have been loosened by the international community, especially by Europe and the USA, leaving him to entangle himself, but it did not happen so, because it is an illusion to think that bad actions remain ‘outside’ of the actor and collaborator, but in fact, the bad action penetrates further, affecting to the core, and it cannot be predicted what will happen next…”
Among other things, he added that this could also affect the security situation in Kosovo, as Vučić will try to create unrest and destabilize the Balkans.
“We can say that perhaps a call has been made to the citizens of Kosovo, for safety reasons, to refrain these days and not to cross the border points between Serbia and Kosovo, because most of the Serbs outraged by this situation, with their aggressiveness, can cause possible unrest, therefore it seems the risk of this Serbian extremism is ready, which, based on Vučić’s orders, wants to create fog and possible unrest to destabilize Kosovo and the region.
Vučić’s and Dodik’s games will not end as thought, without disturbing the Balkans, and to create a possible conflict or war in Kosovo and Bosnia, as long as the international community allows both to act and threaten their neighbors, according to whom not only something unexpected can happen, but putting an entire population at risk and repeating other resolutions,” Dedë Preqi concluded for “Bota sot.”
Hasani: Kosovo Can File a Lawsuit Against Serbia
Meanwhile, professor Refik Hasani considered Vučić a co-conspirator in the realization of the genocide in Srebrenica.
He mentioned a statement by the Serbian president, welcoming the adoption of the genocide resolution at the UN.
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is complicit in the tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide in Srebrenica.
‘For one killed Serb, we will kill one hundred Muslims,’ emphasized Aleksandar Vučić in his globally known speech in the Serbian Parliament, as a minister during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the time of the Balkan butcher, Slobodan Milošević.
Indeed, international justice has been delayed, but having triumphed, it is to be welcomed, and since the genocide resolution in Srebrenica was adopted by the UN, it paves the way for lawsuits filed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to be examined, and the declaration of genocide in Srebrenica helps make the lawsuits more convincing before the international court,” the professor declared.
He also said that Kosovo should file a lawsuit against Serbia for crimes and massacres committed in the last war.
“I think the Republic of Kosovo can file a lawsuit against Serbia in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, thus exercising international law, and should intensify the preparation, to begin as soon as possible in drafting and submitting the lawsuit, calculating the damages expressed in billions of dollars.
Serbia in the Republic of Kosovo exercised ethnic cleansing and genocide not only from 1998-1999 but from 1945-1999. I recall killings, shootings, colonizations, deportations to Turkey, elaborates, poisoning of students, etc.,” he explained.
In the end, the professor emphasized that only filing lawsuits against Serbia can discipline it and encourage a change in its approach to the Balkan states.
“The Albanian Assembly should be included in the parliamentary process after reviewing to adopt the draft resolution, submitted on May 31, 2022, where this resolution deals with the condemnation of crimes, ethnic cleansing by Serbia carried out in Kosovo.
Only filing lawsuits by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo would discipline Serbia and start changing its approach to all former Yugoslav territories and this part of the Balkans.
I don’t think there will be a security threat in Kosovo and the Balkans,” concluded Refik Hasani for “Bota sot.”