Serbia's strong appeal to all countries of the world: Vote against the resolution on Srebrenica

Charge d'affaires in the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the United Nations, Saša Mart, issued a statement that we are transmitting in its entirety:

"Regarding the last letter that the Permanent Missions of the FR of Germany and Rwanda sent to all member states on May 17 in the capacity of main sponsors and "co-facilitators" of the resolution on Srebrenica, I am obliged to draw attention to the following elements. Contrary to the claims of strong regional support for the resolution, the co-sponsors continued with the practice of one-way communication, without the possibility of questions and comments, with the absence of open consultations that would involve the participation of all UN member states.

The above only confirms the fact that the Republic of Serbia has pointed out from the very beginning - the non-transparency of the process without wider regional consensus and agreement exposes the real intention behind the resolution. Contrary to all the procedures and practices of the UN General Assembly, by sending the "revised" text of the resolution agreed in a narrow circle of co-sponsors, the member states are trying to be misled that these are essential changes that should convince the member states to support the text.

The co-sponsors' attempt to point out that individual guilt is determined through court proceedings is an attempt to conceal the fact that, in the wider political discourse, the moral responsibility for genocide is being collectively attributed to the entire nation. The Serbian people, who during the twentieth century, being on the side of truth and justice during two world wars, were exposed to terrible suffering, attempted extermination and genocide, will never agree to that.

The consistent emphasis of the Republic of Serbia that the resolution related to the sensitive issue of the victims of a tragic war must represent, above all, the "ownership" of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is unconvincingly attempted to be disguised as "regional ownership" in the last letter of the main co-sponsors.

At the same time, it is completely ignored that the initiative on such a sensitive issue was not initiated in agreement with all three peoples in BiH, contrary to the Constitution of BiH and without the consent of the tripartite Presidency. The true intention behind this resolution is indicated by the recent statement of the official of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmedin Konaković, who said that "Such a Serbia deserves contempt and does not deserve a hand of cooperation", and that Bosnia and Herzegovina will seek in all other ways compensation for war damages, as well as the renewal of the revision of the verdict against Serbia.

Such irresponsible and inappropriate statements by the officials of a state reveal the true intentions and certainly do not contribute to stability, both in BiH and in the region, which Serbia has been warning about from the beginning.

The member states of the UN, which have found themselves in an unenviable situation by the will of the proposer, should not be further misled by an attempt to present an allegedly revised text. The member states should not be misled about the timeliness of initiating the resolution on Srebrenica, because contrary to efforts to present 2024 as the most adequate, the year we are in is characterized by complex geopolitical circumstances, so the opening of historically sensitive topics only deepens divisions and may produce additional instabilities on the Balkans.

Bearing in mind the unfathomable consequences of such a draft resolution already at this stage, on the fragile process of reconciliation by opening old wounds, we once again appeal to the co-sponsors to withdraw the text of the resolution, in the interest of all, above all the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also of all UN members, as states members would not be put in a position to vote on a sensitive issue that requires consensus.

If this is not the case, we point out that this resolution is already causing deep divisions in the international community and leads to the complication of the process in the entire region, which is why we call on all UN member states not to vote for the mentioned resolution."