Even the Day of Remembrance for Jasenovac Victims Brings No Catharsis: Promotion of Chetnik Ideology, Russian Policy, and SANU Document

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

Even the Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Ustasha genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945 cannot pass without Milorad Dodik denying the genocide in Srebrenica, while the public broadcaster in Republika Srpska tries to find every opportunity to poison the local population.

Today, they are bringing up stories of some former UN High Representative who, supposedly, confirms the claims of Serbian politicians that a large number of those buried in Srebrenica were brought from other cities and villages.

And while they count the Bosniak bones found even in tertiary mass graves (which further speaks to the monstrosity of the crime), it is clear that the sorrow for the murdered Serbs in Jasenovac cannot overcome the desire to somehow prevent the adoption of the Srebrenica Resolution in the United Nations.

“If the Srebrenica Resolution is adopted, it will permanently divide BiH,” said Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, early this morning.

And then, during the commemoration for the victims of Jasenovac, he again denied the genocide in Srebrenica and equated the Partisans with the ‘fatherland gathering’ (presumably referring to the VRS).

He inevitably mentioned Aleksandar Vučić, thanking him for uniting Serbs. And what does that unification mean?

Serbia and its commitment to Chetnik ideology, Russian policy, and SANU 2 are working diligently to establish a 'Serbian world'.

A world they tried to achieve through bloody wars in the nineties and immortalize as Greater Serbia.

And Vučić, on the path to the 'Serbian world', no longer reacts to Dodik's secession announcements. He speaks less and less about respecting the territorial integrity of BiH, and sovereignty has almost never been mentioned.

Along with all this, he invariably, like Dodik, repeats the narrative that they are for preserving peace, while their policies personally threaten that peace.

The path they are taking is undoubtedly a path of conflict, and the ultimate goal of such a policy is the disintegration of BiH and the final creation of the long-dreamed-of 'Greater Serbia'.

Serbia simply cannot, and perhaps simply will not, free itself from Chetnik ideology, Russian policy, and the SANU document.

If we look at the informal and internal acts that guide Serbian and Serb policy in the region, namely the Guidelines of the SANU Memorandum 2 from 2011, Dodik's behavior is entirely expected, but it's as if no one believed it would come true.

The talk of some 'peaceful separation' in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a story for children. How 'peaceful separations' end does not require looking far into the past. Yugoslavia also disintegrated through a 'peaceful separation', didn't it? From that peaceful separation, hundreds of thousands of dead, displaced, and raped remained...

And when talking about Dodik and Vučić, one must always keep in mind that they are not alone. Vladimir Putin and Russia support such policies because a fragile Balkans suits them in this situation.

In that context, and speaking about the Srebrenica resolution, it is worth remembering the messages of the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, who last year, even before the resolution was known, emphasized that 'the demonization of Serbs as a genocidal nation is unacceptable'.

Dodik and Vučić have adopted this narrative, although the Resolution does not demonize any nation. However, it seems that the people must urgently recognize the demons among themselves, because Vučić, although asked, has never answered whether the ratio according to which for one murdered Serb, 100 Muslims should be killed has changed.