Serbia’s Moment of Truth

12. 7. 2010. “During adoption of the Declaration on condemning the crime committed in Srebrenica, we could hear time and again that what had happened in Srebrenica was a fabrication. It was painful to watch ‘fellow’ MPs calmly, cynically talk about it. That is an additional crime committed with words, thought, when someone denies that the crime had taken place. Whatever its range, the Declaration represents a breakthrough after fifteen years of silence. Its enactment MPs saw as yet another everyday political assignment, and that is Serbia’s problem, for we are performing certain tasks because a court, the international community, … says so. Unfortunately, we are living in schizophrenic society, in which over 60 percent of people wish to join the EU, while the same percent of the population say that Ratko Mladić should not be extradited to the ICTY. Srebrenica is one of the most shameful pages in the history of Serbia, but no one talks of how that will be represented in history textbooks”, said Meho Omerović, Social Democratic Party of Serbia MP, at the event “Not because of Europe”, held at the Museum of Yugoslav History on the 11th of July.

In scope of this event the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) promoted the publication “National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia Passes the Declaration on Condemning the Crime Committed in Srebrenica”, which contains shorthand notes from the Serbian Parliament’s session at which the Declaration was on the agenda. At the opening of the promotion, by publicly reading parts of the shorthand transcript YIHR activists reminded attendees of what had been said in the Parliament.

G17 plus MP Vlajko Senić underscored that the Declaration was not the result of consensus among MPs, nor was it yet clear who had drafted it and submitted it to the Parliament:

“The Parliament has almost no political power and our sole duty is to uphold what the Government submits. It would be an illusion to expect for MPs to change something in that text. Effect of the Declaration is therefore smaller, and one should not expect it to have brought about a change in public opinion. I believe that the majority of citizens condemn the Declaration”, Mr. Senić reveals.

“When I submitted draft declaration on the tenth anniversary of the crime, I was subjected to humiliation. The draft got misplaced on its way to the registry room, and I personally had to deliver it to the lady who works there. The then Parliament Speaker Predrag Marković [G17plus official, remark D. L.] joked with Aleksandar Vučić [Serbian Radical Party MP, remark D. L.] that Nataša Mićić [MP on the Democratic Party list, the author’s remark] and I had agreed on draft declaration in the toilet. This declaration was passed, and that is the maximum for Serbia. That is Serbia’s moment of truth. The parliamentary debate was horrifying, terribly heavy and galling”, noted Žarko Korać, president of the Social Democratic Union and an MP.

According to Liberal Democratic Party MP Ivan Andrić, the main problem of Serbian politicians is their view that one needs to flirt with nationalism in order to implement reforms:

“Everyone wants to appeal to the people, but when it comes to essence there can be no compromise. Genocide was committed in Srebrenica, there is no negotiation and appeal about it. There were positive reactions to the Declaration, but nothing has essentially changed. The intention of the one who drafted the Declaration was practical, for it to serve as a compensation for failing to apprehend Ratko Mladić. And the argument that we still haven’t apprehended him because we cannot locate him is sufficient for our politicians. What does it say about their responsibility? I was sickened by the debate in the Parliament.”

“As soon as someone starts bidding with the number of victims, diminishing it, they want to downplay the crime. The crime wasn’t committed of itself, the ones who inspired and instigated it are still in Belgrade”, underscored Director of the Serbian Renewal Movement Aleksandar Jugović, adding that “as long as even a single man in Serbia deems Mladić a hero, we cannot build a future without fearing that it will bring us a man whose crimes will pass as heroism”.

“Are we as society strong enough to speak about Srebrenica? What was being said about Radovan Karadžić when he was arrested? Gossip and nonsense circulated, not one newspaper published what exactly he was charged with. Policy of Slobodan Milošević and Dobrica Ćosić was clear, to divide and resettle Muslims, which is also stated in Mladić’s recently published journals. As if the category of shame has been forgotten here”, said Mr. Omerović.

Mr. Senić underscored that it was important to wonder who is behind ultra-right organizations of the likes of Srpski narodni pokret 1389 [Serb People’s Movement 1389], whose members in the night between the 10th and the 11th of July covered Belgrade with posters quoting “Happy July 11, the day of liberation of the Serbian town of Srebrenica”:

“Those organizations serve forces of the past to show that they are still among us. If some EU leaders don’t find it problematic to talk in Brussels with people who used to show similar or even worse posters in the Parliament two years ago, how are we then to address such phenomena in Serbia?, wondered Mr. Senić.

“The one you are apologizing to can speak of honesty of the apology. I would like to remind you that this is probably the only such event in Belgrade, on the 15th anniversary of the genocide. That information and the posters put up last night speak enough about Belgrade. Political programme that pushed Serbia into wars is still valid somewhere. Milošević’s ideologists are still reputable. As for Serbian politics, we are descending into an undefined state in which the supreme wisdom is to not have a stance. We are not progressing since we have no political positions. The whole world saw Mladić saying that he was seizing Srebrenica from Turks and giving it to the Serbian people. We asked for more than a resolution and for that reason we did not vote for its enactment”, concluded Mr. Korać.