Konaković tells Varhelyi: You have adopted Vučić's rhetoric on the Srebrenica Resolution, what are you protecting the Serbian people from?

(Patria) - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent an open letter on 17 May 2024 to the
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi.

In the letter, he states that he received information from the media that Varhelyi publicly joined the shameful propaganda of the President of Serbia.

"I expected a more responsible, serious, and humane stance from you regarding the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica.
Given the position you hold, you must know that your words are heavy and painful, especially when they conflict with universal human values, moral norms, international law, and UN conventions.

The resolution is essentially aimed at building justice and lasting peace, because that is what our region needs. It was written for the victims of genocide. Because of the tragedy and horror they endured. Because of their right to that symbolic piece of belated justice. International courts have already convicted the perpetrators and those responsible for the genocide, sentencing them to a total of 1,500 years in prison. This is not a matter of politics, but of global civilisational values and, above all, humanity. To deny the victims of genocide the right to have their own day of remembrance is not only wrong but uncivilised.

That is why I am concerned when, through your public statements, you insinuate collective guilt for an entire nation by paraphrasing the words of Aleksandar Vučić in your remarks. His fabricated conspiracy theories are aimed at destabilising relations in the region and diverting attention from the serious issues Serbia is currently facing. Adopting the rhetoric of those who award medals to convicted perpetrators of genocide irrevocably places you on the dark side of history. What are Vučić, Dodik, and you protecting the Serbian people from? From a resolution that does not mention them in a single word? In the text of the resolution, you managed to see and read something that is not there. Read the text of the resolution more carefully.

Your views are clearly not the views of European nations nor the position of the Commission, so I ask you whose views you presented during your address on this topic while you were in Belgrade? Just a few days after your address, the Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH publicly paid tribute to a convicted war criminal for the genocide in Srebrenica. Do you think that is a way to build a common future and ensure lasting peace in the region?

The thesis that the adoption of the resolution will destabilise the region can only be created by those who deny the genocide, glorify war criminals, and perhaps have similar intentions in the future. It is precisely because of such things that you should support this resolution, as a European Commissioner, as a European, as a human being," Konaković states.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina has also decided not to continue the implementation of the Action Plan on the transfer of knowledge about the European Union accession process between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, which involved training for diplomats from BiH, and which was signed on 6 March this year by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó.