European leaders in BiH: There can be no reconciliation without truth and remembrance

Darko Hudelist, a journalist from Globus, recalled some details from when he conducted an interview with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić two weeks ago: „After we finished the interview for the newspaper, Vučić emphasized to me several times the importance of closeness, cooperation and alliance between Croats and Serbs in the future, with a special emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina. He explicitly requested that this formulation be included in the interview itself... When I asked Vučić whether, when speaking about this, he meant cooperation and alliance between Serbs and Croats also in possible wartime circumstances, in BiH, he replied that he counts on that, among other things. The emphasis was - to avoid confusion - on the conjunction “and”: he did not mean strictly war, but he did not exclude that possibility either“, wrote Hudelist.

One might say nothing new after the „agreed war“ of Tuđman and Milošević. The Hague Tribunal in its verdicts called these agreements a criminal enterprise aimed at partitioning BiH. Vučić plays on ten sides: with Russia, with NATO, with Turkey, with the European Union, for BiH and against BiH. The same could be said for Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who says one thing publicly and agrees on another with Vučić. Kitarović did not even comment on Vučić's new threats to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the combination of Serbia and Croatia.

On February 28, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are coming to BiH.

Will anyone remind the European leaders of several declarations and resolutions on Srebrenica which state: „Timely prevention and effective punishment of genocide and crimes against humanity should be among the main priorities of the international community and the European Union.“

Quoting parts of the European Parliament Resolution at a significant gathering, Lars Gunar Wigemark, Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative in BiH said: „We have had enough of revisionist history of Europe“, and then added: „Segregation is not good, history has proven that.“  How is it possible that Europe has a dilemma about segregation and the HDZ's proposed amendments to the BiH Election Law? These proposals are in favor of the war goals of the great-state Croatian policy, specifically those who were tried at the Hague Tribunal and convicted of aggression, joint criminal enterprise, destruction of cities and numerous crimes against humanity. Unfortunately, Croatian policy is gradually achieving these goals today by lobbying in European institutions.

Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said in June 2015: „The European Union and its conditionality policy deserve special attention. It is fair to say that without the pressure of the European Union, Karadžić and Mladić would not have been arrested and our judicial proceedings for the genocide in Srebrenica would not have been so successful.“

In the case of the verdict against the Croatian six from Herzeg-Bosnia and the wartime and military leaders of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, Gojko Šušak and General Janko Bobetko, the European stance was clear. Messrs. Juncker and Hahn met with Aleksandar Vučić, just one day after the threat of a joint action by Croatia and Serbia against Bosnia and Herzegovina was announced. The European officials did not publicly reproach Vučić for anything. Apparently, they did not even know about it. Carmel Agius, President of the Tribunal, confirmed in June 2015, speaking about Srebrenica: „The International Court must prevent all historical revisionisms.“

The problem is that Serbia constantly denied the Hague Tribunal, just as Croatia did from verdict to verdict, depending on whether they liked them. This denial of the Hague Tribunal was official and public, and the deniers did not pay much attention to the crimes and victims either.

Denial of genocide and crimes against humanity in Serbia, and then denial of aggression and joint criminal enterprise in Croatia, is a matter for those states. It is absurd to reproach Bosnia and Herzegovina for not doing anything against the denial of the crime of genocide, if even the Hague Tribunal was not able to do so.

Today we are in a situation where, after the total denial of the Tribunal's work, absolute denial of crimes and humiliation of victims, we have threats of new aggression and new crimes. So, what does the European Union think today about its own positions from three years ago? The European Union is responsible for the exceptionally successful work of the Hague Tribunal, for its independent work and, especially, for bringing criminals to justice.

Vučić, with his statement, revealed his own duplicity in policy towards BiH. Let us recall the triple meeting in Istanbul, when Bakir Izetbegović naively believed in Vučić's oaths before Erdogan.

The duplicity of Vučić and Kitarović can be read from the beginning of their mandates, in the mutual exchange of public threats, while at the same time secretly negotiating a new joint evil against Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an open secret that both Serbia and Croatia are courting the Russians, while incredulously flirting with the Trump administration.

Today, unfortunately, the EU has no answer to the denial of the Tribunal's verdicts and the denial of the most serious crimes against Bosnia and Herzegovina and its people. There is also no reaction to the latest worst threats.

In the same resolution from 2015, the European Parliament said: „There can be no reconciliation without truth and remembrance“. /S.O./