24th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide Commemorated in the Croatian Parliament

ZAGREB, (Patria) - A commemoration was held in the Croatian Parliament on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, organized by the Association of Bosniak Defenders of the Homeland War of Croatia and the representative of the Bosniak minority in Parliament, Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Gordan Jandroković.

"We have gathered here today to express our deep sympathy with the victims of the Srebrenica genocide and their loved ones. The memory of Srebrenica reopens old wounds every year, reviving the pain and suffering of the surviving victims that cannot be erased. It particularly reopens the wounds of the women of Srebrenica who lost their husbands, sons, brothers, sometimes their entire families. For them, the events of the past are not the past," said the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, academician Željko Reiner, in his address.

Speaking about the Srebrenica tragedy, the worst massacre in Europe after World War II, in which more than 8,000 elderly men, men, and children were killed, Reiner said that this, like any crime and war, must remain in our collective memory as a permanent reminder of the inhumanity and ruthlessness of individuals.

"The truth is important for the victims, but also for the survivors and their families. By revealing the truth, we offer them support because any denial of the crime is a new experience of tragedy for the survivors. For this reason, we must talk about this and all other genocides committed throughout history and constantly remind ourselves of them," Reiner emphasized.

MP Lekaj Prljaskaj emphasized that the twentieth century was a period of the greatest and fastest social and technological development in human history, but it was also a century of the most terrible armed conflicts and a century in which genocide appeared.

"The perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide committed a crime by abandoning all forms of humanity, unprecedented in type and form in Europe since World War II," said Lekaj Prljaskaj, stressing that looking back at this tragedy raises the question of how the international community failed to prevent the unimaginable suffering of the victims and stop the mass murder of innocent people.

"The story of Srebrenica must be told and retold, and we must return to it, and it is our obligation to persevere in remembrance by educating younger generations to forgive, not to forget, and to remind the international community that it is obliged to punish all perpetrators so that peace and security of life can come to these areas," emphasized Lekaj Prljaskaj.

The Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, also highlighted the need to continuously talk about the victims of Srebrenica, the instigators and executors, but also about those who did not prevent the worst crime against humanity, calling not to forget those who contribute to the remembrance of the victims of Srebrenica.

The President of the Association of Bosniak Defenders of the Homeland War of Croatia (UBBDRH), Hamdija Malić, especially thanked the institutions and individuals in Croatia who deserve credit for the dignified commemoration of the Srebrenica tragedy.

"I am proud that Croatia has shown the highest degree of understanding and decided to pay tribute in this way to the victims who suffered innocently because they could not defend themselves and whom no one protected, even though they could have," said Malić, who concluded his address with an appeal that Vukovar and Srebrenica never happen again and a call for unity, friendship, mutual assistance and understanding, and good neighborliness between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially on its path towards Europe."