Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has called on parliaments of countries in the region to adopt resolutions condemning the Srebrenica Genocide, ahead of its 26th anniversary on July 11.
In an interview for Radio Sarajevo following the adoption of such resolution by the Kosovo parliament on Wednesday, Kurti was harsh on those who deny the Srebrenica Genocide – the killing by Serbian troops of over 8,000 Bosniak civilians over 12 days, from July 11 until July 22.
“We believe that those who deny the genocide in Srebrenica in some way believe that it should have happened. They identify with the criminals. I have to say that in doing so, they keep alive the dream of repeating the genocide,” he stated.
In June, the Montenegrin parliament dismissed a minister for questioning the Srebrenica Genocide, and passed a resolution to condemn it. On Wednesday, Kosovo became the second country in the region to do so.
“We know that the Parliament of Montenegro has adopted a resolution on Srebrenica, and we believe that other parliaments in the region should do the same,” Kurti stated.
He added that the crime committed by Serbian troops in Srebrenica was the biggest crime in Europe after the Second World War, and that anyone “who denies a genocide that has happened, leaves the door open for the recurrence of genocide.”
Kosovo parliament’s resolution condemned not only the genocide but also any attempt to deny its casualties.
The leader of Kosovo urged Serbia to critically analyze its criminal past during the breakup of Yugoslavia, and recognize the crimes they committed in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo in order to help the region move towards a better future.
“I do not want us to be obsessive with history, but to deny the history and its various causes that we know, not from books, but from our experience – this cannot be a determinant for a better future,” he said.
Kosovo still has 1,632 people listed as missing. The government is preparing to file a genocide lawsuit against Serbia with the United Nations’ International Court of Justice.
