Slovenian President Pahor one of the patrons of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide

President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor will be the honorary patron of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Pahor presented the Charter of honorary patronage at a reception held yesterday at the Plaza hotel, where the project marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide was presented. The project organizers are the Averroes Cultural and Educational Institute and the Pogreb ni tabu institute, which, together with a group of like-minded individuals, have prepared a diverse program for the 20th anniversary, which will be performed over the next several months.

The reception was attended by Ela Porić, a representative of the Zemzem Women's Association in Slovenia, Azemina Ahmedbegović, president of the "Gračaničko keranje" Association, and Almasa Salihović and Hasan Hasanović, who survived the horrors of Srebrenica.

Ela Porić thanked President Pahor for his patronage of the commemoration under the motto "8372 living memories".

The commemoration begins at the end of June, when in Ljubljana, with a minute of silence and 8,372 flowers, tribute will be paid to all victims. Primary and secondary schools will also be involved through art works on the theme "When I grow up, there will be peace in the world" and a literary competition "Scars of War".

President Pahor believes that this is our collective responsibility.

- Our common interest is to preserve the memory of this symbol of terror in the recent history of Europe, in order to remember and remind that tragedy is closer than you can imagine - said Pahor.

Almasa Salihović and Hasan Hasanović, at the time of the genocide, were 8 and 21 years old. President Pahor said that it was brave of them to tell their story and speak about the horrors, and that their testimonies will preserve the memory of crimes that must never be repeated.

Azemina Ahmedbegović presented President Pahor with the Srebrenica flower, which symbolizes the victims of the genocide.

President Pahor will attend the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide on July 11 in Potočari.