Serbia: Srebrenica anniversary marked by starkly divided views

Commemorations for the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide took place at the Memorial Center in Potočari, concluding with a religious ceremony and the burial of ten newly identified victims. The event highlighted the starkly divided perspectives within Serbia regarding the 1995 massacre.

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Srebrenica must remain an eternal warning to humanity that such horror never happens again to anyone.

The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) marked the anniversary, with its president Bojan Kostreš stating that Srebrenica represents "the darkest chapter of modern European history." He emphasized that the anniversary serves not only as a day of remembrance and sorrow for victims' families but also as a stark warning to the world, asserting that "Srebrenica must remain an eternal warning to humanity that such horror never happens again to anyone."

In contrast, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) celebrated what they termed the "Day of liberation of Serbian Srebrenica." The party claimed that on this day in 1995, the "brave Serbian army led by the glorious General Ratko Mladić liberated Serbian Srebrenica." The SRS stated it has worked for decades to present "this day and the truth about the events that actually happened in Srebrenica" to the Serbian people and the public.

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On this day in 1995, the brave Serbian army led by the glorious General Ratko Mladić liberated Serbian Srebrenica.

In Novi Sad, posters supporting Ratko Mladić, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017, appeared on the anniversary. The posters featured Mladić's general's cap and the message "General, thank your mother." These posters were displayed on the International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide, established by the UN General Assembly, which recognizes the killing of 8,372 Bosniaks. Videos shared on social media showed citizens tearing down some of these posters. The Initiative of Young Human Rights also installed 11 Srebrenica flowers, made of buttons, in Belgrade as a memorial titled "The Flower That Remains."

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General, thank your mother.