Tens of thousands of people from various parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered in Banjaluka to participate in a rally organized by the ruling party in the country’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity over a resolution to declare July 11 "The International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide", which the UN General Assembly is expected to discuss beginning of May.
According to the Speaker of the RS National Assembly, Nenad Stevandic, buses with supporters also arrived in Banjaluka to attend the gathering, under the slogan “Srpska is calling you”.
Most representatives of the opposition in the RS previously announced that they would not attend the rally because it was organised by the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by RS President Milorad Dodik. Only Drasko Stanivukovic, the mayor of Banjaluka and a prominent opposition figure, decided to attend.
Protesters carried flags of Republika Srpska, and some of them held up a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speakers at the gathering included high-ranking officials from the RS, as well as from neighbouring Serbia, who said that the Resolution represents an “attack” on Serbs.
Among the speakers was Branimir Kojic, the president of the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica, who denied the Srebrenica Genocide, which is a criminal offence in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to a 2021 law imposed by the former High Representative of the international community in the country.
He called on those at the gathering to “raise their voices against injustice” and equated the indictment against Dodik at the BiH Court with an “indictment against the RS”.
“Obviously, we lived in the delusion that we lived in peace for almost three decades, we realized that the war has not stopped”, he said, arguing that Serbs are being denied the right of free speech.
Darko Banjac, the president of the People's Party of Srpska, insulted BiH’s Ambassador to the UN, Zlatko Lagumzdija, but also Europe, calling it a derogatory homophobic term, although Ana Brnabic, the Speaker of the Assembly of Serbia and a member of the LGBT community, was standing behind him.
He said that messages of peace should be sent from Banja Luka, but also that he was “sorry that Russia's special operation did not extend to all fascists and Nazis”.
“Long live mother Serbia and mother Russia,” he said.
Brnabic said that Serbia has always been and will be in favor of respecting the Dayton Peace Agreement, but that it seems that they are the only ones who have always consistently held that position.
“We have always been the target of dirty attacks and lies just because someone does not like Serbia, which is economically stronger and takes care of its people. My second message is that times have changed. Once there were those in power in Serbia who would introduce sanctions on the RS and on the Drina (river), those who arrested the Serbs because someone from abroad ordered them to. Today, there are people in power in Serbia who will always stand with the RS and our people. We don't always have to think the same and we don't always have to agree on some things, but we will always be together,” said Brnabic.
Milorad Dodik took to the stage and said in his speech that the Srebrenica genocide was merely a “mistake” by the Army of Republika Srpska, but that it was not genocide.
“The operation of the RS Army in July 1995 in Srebrenica was a mistake. A mistake that left behind a huge crime. This is the moment when, on behalf of the RS, I want to express special respect to all the victims and my condolences to their families. It was a crime at the end of the war after fatigue, hatred, suffering and revenge, but it was not genocide,” said Dodik.
He accused Germany of trying to use the Resolution on Srebrenica in the UN to “erase its crimes, but also those of others and those who are committing crimes now and intend to commit them in the future.”
“This separates us permanently and we do not want to live with you, those who say that the Serb people are genocidal,” said Dodik and again threatened with the secession of the RS.
“We will not live with you”, he said, referring to Bosniaks.
Dodik said that the RS is “freedom” and that “BiH is a mistake that should not have existed”.
He said that “RS will not go to war”, but also that if the Resolution on Srebrenica is adopted in the UN, he will go and spend a day in Srebrenica.
“To show that it is ours and that we are not ashamed of it,” said Dodik.
“The RS does not belong to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina should belong to the RS, but they have done everything to make it disgusting and that there is nothing to be gained from it,” said Dodik, again denying the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as historical facts.
He again threatened secession and expressed hope that Donald Trump would win in the US elections. He also said that “friends like Hungary” understand his position.
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