The UN General Assembly passed the resolution on “genocide” in Srebrenica in 1995. Reactions in Bosnia are mixed, 29 years after the massacre. When the UN General Assembly establishes a Day of Remembrance, the resolution is usually unanimous. But this time, that didn’t happen. Of the 193 countries that participated in the General Assembly vote on Thursday night, 84 approved the draft resolution, 19 voted against it, while 68 abstained. Greece and Cyprus chose to abstain. Almost all EU countries, as well as the US, voted in favor. Among others, Russia, China, Serbia and (as the only EU country) Hungary opposed the resolution.

It was July 11, 1995 when approximately 8,000 Muslims were executed in cold blood by the Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers in the area. With the resolution of the General Assembly, the massacre is recognized as genocide, while from 2025 an international “Remembrance Day for the Srebrenica Genocide” is established on July 11. It is noted that the resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not considered binding, unlike those of the Security Council.

“An Act of Civilization”

Reactions are mixed the next day in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as expected. Denis Besirovic, who represents Bosnian Muslims in the country’s Tripartite Collective Presidency, states that the adoption of the resolution by the UN General Assembly is an “act of civilization”, a “victory of truth and justice”, but also an “opportunity for purification and reconciliation in the region”.

But the representative of the Croatian side, Željko Komšić, estimates that the approval of the resolution offers “an opportunity for all responsible people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to form a new point of view on the issue of genocide, in a civilized way”. In Komsic’s view, “Bosnia-Herzegovina will emerge strengthened from this process, and a strong Bosnia is a guarantee that the genocide will not be repeated.”

Bosnian Serbs reject the resolution

Diametrically opposite is the attitude of the Bosnian Serbs. Their representative in the Collective Bureau, Zelika Cvijanovic, emphasizes that based on the results of the vote “two thirds of the world’s population do not support the resolution on Srebrenica”. At the same time Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, which is the smallest entity in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, condemns the resolution of the UN General Assembly.

Speaking to journalists, Dodik maintains that “there was no genocide” especially in Srebrenica. However, by denying the genocide, Dodik is doing exactly what the resolution of the General Assembly condemns and the legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibits. Elsewhere, the Bosnian Serb leader speaks of a “failed resolution” that “doesn’t even gather a majority” and threatens, once again, with the withdrawal of the Serbs from the federal state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Serbian spikes against Germany

In Serbia itself, the term “genocide” for what happened in Srebrenica has been taboo for many years. The resolution is presented as an attempt to collectively stigmatize the Serbian people. And this, despite the fact that in the plan submitted jointly by Germany and Rwanda, Serbia and the Serbs are not mentioned anywhere, nor does the term “collective responsibility” appear. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, German Permanent Representative Andje Leenderze said that “this resolution is not directed against the Serbian people, but only against those who were responsible for the genocide.”

Despite this, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, sees an attack on his country. He even accuses Germany of “delivering moral lessons to everyone who has a different opinion” and warns that the resolution not only does not contribute to a better mutual understanding, but instead “opens old wounds and causes chaos in the Balkans”.

After the vote, however, the Serbian president seemed pleased. Adding up the countries that rejected the plan and those that abstained, he presented the result as a “big victory for Serbia.” Many in Bosnia find the attitude of Vucic cynical, who was Minister of Information under the dictatorial regime of Slobodan Milosevic and in July 1995, around the time of the Srebrenica massacre, threatened that “for every Serb they kill, we will kill a hundred Muslims.”

The most powerful supporter of the Serbian side was Russia. Speaking at the General Assembly, Russian Commissioner Vassily Nebeznia recalled Germany’s role as the “aggressor” in two world wars and German responsibility for the Holocaust, but also for the genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes in the early 20th century in what is now Namibia . “We are convinced that Germany does not have the moral stature to even mention the term ‘genocide’, let alone to describe its own heinous crimes,” said a Russian diplomat.

The reactions in Kosovo

In Kosovo, Prime Minister Albin Kurti welcomed the result of the General Assembly vote and underlined Serbia’s “responsibility” for peace in the Balkans. At the same time, he called for those responsible for Srebrenica to be held accountable. At the same time, however, in the Serb-majority town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, reactions were quite different: forming a protest convoy of dozens of cars, many residents took to the streets waving huge Serbian flags and expressing their outrage at the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.

Edited by: Yiannis Papadimitriou