Following the announcement by the Government of the Republika Srpska (RS) to hold a session tomorrow (May 23) in Bratunac, along with laying wreaths and paying respects to Serbian war victims, Emir Suljagic, Director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, has responded by rejecting their request to pay respects at the Potocari Memorial.

In his letter, Suljagic cited the RS government's stance and policies on the Srebrenica genocide as reasons for denying the request, stating that appropriate conditions could not be ensured.

“If the prime minister and representatives of the RS Government insist on honoring the victims from 1992-1995, they can do so on their way to Srebrenica. Specifically, they could lay flowers at the school playground in front of the elementary school where 74 Bosniaks from Srebrenica and Podrinje were killed and over 100 wounded in April 1993 due to RS Army artillery attacks. If they are unwilling to do it in Srebrenica, they can stop at the warehouse of the Agricultural Cooperative in Kravica, where members of the RS Ministry of Interior's special brigade killed more than 1,300 captured Bosniak civilians from the Srebrenica enclave,” Suljagic wrote.

He further suggested that if the RS officials are impatient, they can divert to Susica in Vlasenica, where more than 8,000 people passed through a camp under the control of RS civil and military authorities.

“If they are coming from Zvornik, they could do it in Pilica at the Cultural Center, where on July 16, 1995, approximately 700 captured Bosniak civilians from the Srebrenica enclave were killed by grenades and automatic gunfire,” Suljagic added.

The RS Government planned the wreath-laying ceremony and the session in Bratunac for May 23, coinciding with the UN General Assembly's vote on the Srebrenica genocide resolution. RS President Milorad Dodik had also requested permission from the Srebrenica Memorial Center to lay a wreath for the Srebrenica victims, stating that he had previously done so.

“On Thursday, there will be a session of the RS Government, and we will lay flowers at the Serbian cemetery in Bratunac. We approached the Srebrenica Memorial Center to allow the RS Government delegation to lay a wreath there as well. After that, we planned to hold a session in Srebrenica and draw up conclusions in the meantime. We have not yet received a response. They think it’s a provocation, but it’s not,” Dodik said in a statement to the media.