Srebrenica Memorial Center and Dutch Veterans Institute Sign Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation

(Patria) - In the premises of the Srebrenica Memorial Center today, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Netherlands to BiH, Srebrenica mothers, veterans, and employees of the Memorial Center, a ceremony was held for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between this institution and the Dutch Veterans Institute.

- The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding can be considered a significant confirmation of the importance of our cooperation and mutual respect - said the Director of the Veterans Institute, Paul Hoefsloot.

The idea for signing the Memorandum arose last year, in order to define cooperation with veterans of the Dutch Battalion who visit the Memorial Center in organized groups.

As part of confronting the past and what happened during July 1995, when the Dutch Battalion III was responsible for the safety of people in the UN Safe Area of Srebrenica, veterans, during their stay at the Memorial Center, talk with genocide survivors, i.e., mothers.

Although this is a painful process for them as survivors, the mothers consider this cooperation very important, as one of the goals is to share personal experiences and convey the truth about the genocide in Srebrenica to the wider public.

As they emphasized, this cooperation is a bridge that should connect us in the common fight for truth and remembrance of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica.

- The past cannot be changed, but the future must be left to generations that must remember. This is one of the ways we can contribute to that together.

With this Memorandum, we want to contribute together to ensuring that it is not forgotten, because objects and photographs from that period that veterans bring to the Memorial Center also have great importance and are one of the ways to save the victims of the genocide from oblivion - stated the Chairman of the Steering Board of the Memorial Center, Hamdija Fejzić.