EU Delegation draws anger from Mothers of Srebrenica

The delegation of diplomats from EU member states visited the town of Bratunac and laid wreaths at a memorial for almost 4,000 Serbs killed there by Bosnian Muslim forces operating from the Srebrenica enclave during the war of the 1990s. An X post by the head of the EUDelegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina Adebayo Babajide said that the delegation met with local officials as part of efforts to build trust among local communities and paid respect to innocent civilians killed in that area. A press release said the delegation the wreath laying was a show of empathy and respect to all innocent civilian victims and the accepting of established facts.

The Mothers of Srebrenica Association released a sharply-worded statement against the delegation’s press release saying that paying homage to genocide victims is not the same as paying homage to the perpetrators of genocide. “Your attitude towards the victims of genocide is extremely hypocritical and offensive. We are aware that among you there are those who do not care, but at least respect the resolutions of the European Parliament if you do not respect the victims of genocide. Your actions show a lack of empathy and understanding for the pain of the survivors. We demand an apology to the victims of genocide from the representatives of the European Union who visited the cemetery in Bratunac, or they should leave Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the statement said.

The EU delegation’s visit to the memorial in Bratunac was also condemned by the CEO of the Srebrenica Memorial Center Emir Suljagic and the Dean of the Sarajevo University School of Political Science who said the EU delegation paid tribute to the forces led by Bosnian Serb war time political and military chiefs Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic who were both found guilty of war crimes by the Hague Tribunal.