Russia called the UN resolution on genocide in Srebrenica “one-sided”

Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council criticized draft resolution on the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.

Speaking at the meeting, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, called the draft document “one-sided”, “politically charged” and not conducive to “interethnic reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“It is obvious that the authors, in the format of a document of the UN General Assembly, confirm the qualification of historical events that meets only their interests,” Nebenzya said.

The Srebrenica genocide, in which Bosnian Serbs killed more than eight thousand unarmed Bosnian Muslim men and boys in 1995, has been recognized by international courts in The Hague. Top Bosnian Serb army officers and political leaders were also convicted of genocide, some receiving life sentences.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, half of which – the Republika Srpska – is still controlled by the Bosnian Serbs, it is prohibited by law to deny the genocide in Srebrenica. Despite this, in April 2024, the Republika Srpska parliament approved a report denying genocide in Srebrenica, and the pro-Russian leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, publicly stated that the crime in Srebrenica was not genocide.

Speaking at a rally against the UN resolution, which was attended by thousands of Bosnian Serbs, Dodik repeated the threat that the Republika Srpska would secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina if the resolution was adopted. He ended his speech with the exclamation “Long live Russia.”

Serbia also opposes the resolution. “The Western powers intend to adopt a resolution on genocide at the UN General Assembly, with the help of which they want to abolish the Republika Srpska and demand war reparations from it,” – said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the end of March 2024.

UN draft resolution on genocide in Srebrenica offered Germany and Rwanda. According to the document, from 2025 July 11 will be declared the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide. The project also condemns the denial of genocide and the glorification of people convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The project will be considered at the UN General Assembly in early May 2024.