Bosnia and Herzegovina needs European law, not European politics, for real progress

Written for NAP by: Sifet Kukuruz, legal expert

The adoption of the Resolution on the Genocide in Srebrenica and the laying of flowers by the EU Delegation at the military cemetery in Bratunac, where members of the army and police who committed the genocide are buried, is the essence of the international community's policy, and thus the EU's policy towards BiH before, during, and after the commission of the genocide.

This heinous act is clear proof that the rapprochement, and ultimately BiH's membership in the EU, will have to be paid for, less through legal reforms and more through the truth about the war and the committed crimes. The fact that the EU has found fertile ground in BiH for the implementation of such a policy is shown by the thunderous silence of domestic politicians and institutions whose obligation is not only to preserve and protect the interests of the state of BiH, but also to preserve the truth about the war in BiH.

Laying flowers at the military cemetery where the entire bodies of the army and police who committed genocide are buried, while simultaneously expressing sympathy for the remains of the genocide victims, undoubtedly represents an unacceptable act and glorification of evil, and this should be openly stated in the interest of our own future, truth, and justice.

Given that such conduct is in direct contradiction to the verdicts of international and domestic courts, which have proven not only genocide but also numerous other forms of mass and systematically committed war crimes by members of the army and police to whom the EU Delegation pays respect, in addition to public condemnation of these heinous acts, the question of legal responsibility of European bureaucrats who act in this way should finally be raised.

Otherwise, such actions will become more frequent and over time will become the basis of our history.

IN BRATUNAC, THERE IS NOT ONE, BUT TWO MONUMENTS AT THE CEMETERY

Given that the hypocrisy of the international community's policy knows no bounds, as evidenced once again by the latest statement from the European Union Delegation in BiH justifying the laying of flowers at the cemetery in Bratunac, it should not be surprising if, as one of the conditions for BiH's membership in the EU, a request is soon made for the delegation of genocide survivors to lay flowers at the military cemetery in Bratunac in the interest of "creating an environment conducive to reconciliation".

Such a stance is not impossible; it simply fits naturally into the hypocritical concept of "empathy and respect" that has continuously characterized the EU's policy towards BiH, which implies equal responsibility of the parties in the "tragic conflict", as EU officials like to refer to aggression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass and systematically planned and committed crimes.

The claim from the EU Delegation's Cabinet that tribute was paid by laying flowers exclusively to civilian victims of the war at a monument that simultaneously combines military and civilian victims who died in the war, which, according to the verdicts of the Hague Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, represented classic aggression, is, in itself, proof that the EU Delegation pursues a hypocritical policy of double standards. And the monument in Bratunac is neither dedicated solely to civilian victims, nor is it a monument to innocent civilian victims killed during the period of aggression from 1992 to 1995.

Perhaps only the EU Delegation understands how laying flowers at a monument erected in honor of military and civilian victims of the war, which is also dedicated to victims from World War II, can pay tribute only to civilian victims from the period 1992-1995.
The irrational empathy and respect shown by the EU towards those who committed genocide, besides being unacceptable from the perspective of humanistic and civilizational values, are also unacceptable and unsustainable from the perspective of international legal norms.

It sounds surreal that, according to the statement of the EU Delegation in BiH, the justification for laying flowers is "acceptance of historical and judicially established facts." It remains unclear what the EU Delegation considers "history and facts established by history," but there is no doubt that "judicially proven facts" are against such conduct by the EU Delegation, and that is what is most important.

If we accept the fact that history is created by those who possess power and decision-making mechanisms, and in relation to BiH, that is the EU, then it should not be overly surprising that this shameful statement from the EU Delegation is actually a preface and introduction to a new history of BiH, a history tailored to the EU, and a history tailored to those who committed genocide.

The only obstacle to such an intention, unfortunately, is not domestic politicians who are obliged to preserve and protect the truth about BiH's struggle for its own survival, but rather the verdicts of the Hague Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the verdict of the International Court of Justice for genocide.

Given that the Hague Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia established that there was an interstate armed conflict in BiH in which three states participated, of which RBiH was the attacked state, and that the International Court of Justice ruled that genocide was committed in BiH by the army and police over which the neighboring state had overall control, and that these facts have been judicially proven, any justification or explanation by the EU Delegation in BiH for this shameful act cannot pass the test of humanistic-civilizational, and more importantly - legal scrutiny.

What's more, "creating an environment conducive to reconciliation," according to the EU Delegation's formula, is undoubtedly a path to some new interstate armed conflict and new genocide, because an environment in which the victim and the aggressor are the same, in which the Army of RBiH, which defended European values, and those who trampled those values are the same, in which those who violated international law and those who respected that law are the same, is certainly an environment for the awakening of dark spirits of the recent past.

An atmosphere and environment of evil in which the victim and the perpetrator are the same represents an empire of evil in which evil sees and always finds its new chance. And the conduct of the EU Delegation in BiH is precisely what opens the door to that empire of evil again.

And at the entrance to that door, it reads: "We allowed the massacre of Bosniaks, who can stop us from paying tribute to their executioners today. We do not forget that this was done with our permission and on our orders."