BRUSSELS – Srebrenica genocide is still an open wound at the heart of Europe and reminds us of our shared responsibility to prevent genocide from ever happening again, EU Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said on Tuesday, addressing a digital conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, N1 reports.
“Srebrenica calls for accountability. Justice must be served, and all those responsible for the massacre must face the consequences of their actions. 25 years on, it is more urgent than ever to end impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes,” said Várhelyi.
#Srebrenica genocide is still an open wound at the heart of Europe. It reminds us of our shared responsibility to prevent genocide from ever happening again. Values so dramatically violated 25y ago are now at the core of our engagement w #WesternBalkans. https://t.co/2SEFwmZ7Hr pic.twitter.com/Ds387HzK1C
— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) July 7, 2020
He added that it was one of darkest moments of Europe’s modern history, recalling that over 8,372 Muslim men and boys were “deliberately and methodically killed by the Bosnian Serb forces in the UN “safe area” of Srebrenica, a town in which they thought to be safe.”
“The massacre was recognised as an act of genocide by two different international courts: the International Criminal Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia in 2004 and the International Court of Justice in 2006. These established facts about what happened in Srebrenica should today be clear to all. This part of European history must be upheld against any attempt at denial and revisionism, which contradicts the most fundamental European values”, Commissioner concluded adding that attempts to rewrite history in Bosnia and Herzegovina or anywhere else are unacceptable.