Let us hope it is not too late

Sonja Biserko, a leading light of Serbia’s human rights community, gave this talk “In the Spririt of the UN Resolution on Srebrenica (2024), at the UN in Vienna on July 11:

As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, we do more than honor the victims. We are called to defend the truth.

The UN Resolution on Srebrenica, adopted in 2024, reminded the world of the legal and moral clarity surrounding this crime. It named what happened — genocide. And it urged all societies, especially those in the region, to confront that truth with courage, not denial.

Memory is a warning

In today’s world, where ethnonationalist rhetoric and authoritarian rule are on the rise, memory becomes a warning. A warning against scapegoating. A warning against exclusion.

Genocide remembrance gives us a framework. It helps us understand and respond to mass atrocities today — whether in Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, or Ukraine. It compels international actors to act. Not to stand aside.

Remembering genocide is not a backward-looking act—it is a profoundly forward-looking responsibility. In today’s unstable international environment, where power politics often trumps principles, remembrance becomes a form of resistance, a defense of truth, and a call to uphold the values of humanity.

Serbia is stuck in denial

Yet, three decades later, we face a harsh reality. Serbia not only denies the genocide — it continues to justify and politically reproduce the very ideology that made it possible.

Denial in Serbia does not stop with political leaders. It is embedded in academic institutions, in the media, in intellectual circles, and in the church.

Serbian elites — writers, professors, historians, clergy — continue to promote the idea of a “Serb world.” This is nothing less than a euphemism for the old Greater Serbia project. A project pursued through war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and ultimately, genocide.

The “Serb world” is not merely a cultural aspiration. It is a geopolitical ambition. It is built on the erasure of non-Serb communities from territories claimed as “historically Serb.”

Bosnia is still at risk

Srebrenica was the most brutal expression of that logic. The killing of over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys was meant to ensure that a future Republika Srpska would be ethnically pure, safe zone free.

In that sense, the ongoing secessionist policy of Republika Srpska is not new. It is not separate. It is the political finalization of the genocide.

It aims to legitimize the territorial outcome of ethnic cleansing. To cement the results of violence. To institutionalize apartheid through laws, symbols, and a false narrative of victimhood.

By denying genocide while glorifying its perpetrators — Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić — Serbia insults the memory of the victims. But more than that, it sustains the ideological infrastructure that made the genocide possible.

So too is the region

This is not only dangerous for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is dangerous for the region. It undermines the credibility of international law.

In the spirit of the UN Resolution on Srebrenica, we must state clearly:

There can be no reconciliation without truth.

There can be no peace while war criminals are celebrated.

And there can be no stability if the results of genocide are normalized through secession.

The international community must not allow Republika Srpska’s push for independence to go unchallenged. To allow it would be to reward genocide. It would permanently fracture Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It would send a dangerous message to the world: that crimes against humanity can succeed, if pursued with enough persistence.

What Serbia needs to do

In the spirit of the UN Resolution on Srebrenica, we must insist: Serbia must confront its past honestly.

This means acknowledging the genocide. But it also means dismantling state-sponsored narratives that glorify its perpetrators.

It means introducing genocide education into school curricula. Removing war criminals from the pantheon of national “heroes.” Supporting civil society actors who courageously speak the truth.

Meanwhile, civil society in Serbia — along with the brave individuals who stand against denial — must be supported.

They are few. Often silenced. But they are the future.

They hold the key to an honest reckoning. And to a Serbia that can one day return to Europe. Not as a revisionist force, but as a democratic partner rooted in truth and accountability.

True reconciliation begins with truth. Without it, peace remains superficial. A fragile pause, not a durable foundation.

Serbia resists, but Europe should insist

However, Serbia has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of political will and institutional capacity to confront its own past. Instead of fostering accountability and reconciliation, the political elite continues to engage in historical revisionism, the glorification of war criminals, and the denial of atrocities such as the Srebrenica genocide.

In this context, the role of the European Union and the Council of Europe is not only important—it is irreplaceable. These institutions hold a unique responsibility and capacity to shape the normative and institutional frameworks that Serbia has so far failed to establish on its own.

In the spheres of education, culture, and media, their involvement is crucial.

By reinforcing these three pillars, the EU and the Council of Europe can help lay the foundation for a democratic and self-reflective Serbian society. This is essential not only for Serbia’s own future, but also for the stability and democratic integrity of the wider region.

Srebrenica is not only a place of mourning — it is a call to action for all international organizations and institutions whose mandate is to uphold fundamental human rights and freedoms.

In commemorating the genocide in Srebrenica, they confront one of the greatest challenges of the post-1995 world: the imperative to prevent further descent into human rights atrocities and genocidal violence. These horrors, as we are painfully aware — and as the UN Secretary-General has described — are “beyond atrocious, beyond inhuman.”

So far, we have failed to truly “learn the lessons” of Srebrenica. Let us hope it is not too late.