Press Communiqué: Serbian resolution on Srebrenica

Communiqué de Presse about Serbian resolution on Srebrenica Paris, 14. 2. 2010 As a member of the Serbian Diaspora in France, I wish to express in the name of my friends around journal "Dialogue" and in my name strong disagreement with the proposed adoption by the Serbian parliament of a resolution regarding so called the "Srebrenica genocide". The use of the term "genocide" in such a resolution would be harmful to Serbia and harmful to the cause of peace in the world. It would be interpreted as an admission that Serbia was responsible for the crime of "genocide" committed during the tragic civil war in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. This may entail grave political and even economic consequences for the people of Serbia. As a result of such an interpretation, it would be used to undermine and eventually destroy Republika Srpska, by representing the Bosnian Serbs as "Serbian invaders" whose entity has been built on "genocide" and therefore has no right to exist. This could actually rekindle war in Bosnia. It will be used to justify the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and thereby the independence of Kosovo, since the pretext for the NATO bombing was to prevent "genocide" in Kosovo and Metochia, based on the allegation that the Belgrade regime had shown its genocidal tendencies in Srebrenica. Worst of all, it will encourage further NATO aggression, when it can be shown that even the victims of such aggression can be made to take the blame for war waged against them. A fifth and equally serious, but more subtle, consequence, would be to contribute to the "clash of civilizations" by confirming the allegation that European Christians (Serbs in this case) hated Muslims so much that they wanted to exterminate them, while other European Christians stood by and allowed this "genocide" to happen. This allegation is widely echoed throughout the Muslim world, and therefore serves to build fear and hostility between Muslim and Western countries. If the Serbian government would adopt a resolution as one which is in preparation, this would be terrible mistake. I categorically reject in advance to recognise such declaration as representing my and our, Serbian, opinion. By accepting such resolution, such government will cease to represent interests of the Serbian people. This government and its president will have to take all consequences of not representing and fulfilling the will of the citizens of Serbia and the Serbs abroad. The way to contribute to peace and justice is not to give in to pressure to make forced confessions, but rather to seek reconciliation through truth, recognizing that in a tragic civil war, there were criminals and victims on all sides. The truth is not the exclusive possession of the victors, but the result of a scrupulous process that has yet to be carried out in an independent scientific manner.   Dr Dragan Pavlovic Director and Editor in chief, "Dialogue", Paris, France