Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic came to BiH capital Sarajevo, on Friday, where he met with the Croat and Bosniak members of the BiH tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic and Sefik Dzaferovic, as well as the BiH Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic, on the occasion of the Srebrenica genocide anniversary, with whom he concluded that the two countries enjoy friendly relations without open issues.
Komsic and Dzaferovic stressed that Bosnia is committed to activities aimed at improving and continuing the political dialogue in the region, and strengthening cooperation in various areas that are of particular importance for the stability of the region.
Speaking about the foreign policy priorities regarding membership in the European Union and NATO, interlocutors emphasized that this will contribute to lasting stability and progress in the region. They also talked about the current political situation after the elections in Montenegro and the transition of power, the position of minorities in Montenegro and other topics.
The BiH Presidency members expressed their gratitude to the Parliament of Montenegro, for adopting the Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica in June this year.
Abazovic, thanked Komsic and Dzaferovic, for the reception and said he would attend the commemoration of the 26th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, and that a large high delegation would be headed by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic. He emphasized that the Government, the people and the citizens of Montenegro respect and accept the truth and the past and that they are building the future of their country on those foundations.
During the tête-à-tête meeting with Abazovic, BiH Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic noted that the recently adopted Srebrenica Resolution banning the denial of the genocide confirms that the Montenegrin government respects and accepts the truth and the past and that it is turning towards the future on those foundations.
Montenegro’s Abazovic said that he was looking forward to any future constructive cooperation with BiH, expressing hope that the focus of mutual cooperation would be on development and general progress for the benefit of the citizens of both BiH and Montenegro.
“Friendly relations continue, and the hand of friendship of the Government of Montenegro has been extended,” Abazovic said.
He then referred to his visit to Srebrenica on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the genocide, emphasizing that “his decision has nothing to do with the adoption of the Resolution or the development of political events in Montenegro.”
“I knew that I would come to Potocari before, so I would not connect the arrival with the latest political situation in Montenegro,” Abazovic pointed out.
The commemoration and burial of the remains of 16 genocide victims will take place on Sunday, July 11.
During the 1992-1995 Bosnian war for independence from the former Yugoslavia, the country lost over 100,000 people, over 8,000 of which were lost in July 1995 in Srebrenica, when Bosnian Serb forces, which received financial and logistical support both from Serbian authorities and individuals during the war, overrun the then UN-protected zone of Srebrenica.
Their bodies were subsequently buried in primary, secondary and even tertiary mass graves in an attempt to hide the crimes and make identification of victims impossible. Thanks to state of the art DNA labs, all the bodies that were buried at the Memorial Centre were positively identified.
The bodies of victims that were not identified are still held in morgues waiting for their relatives to give their DNA samples. Unfortunately, many have died before their loved ones were exhumated making it impossible to identify a small number of skeletal remains.
The International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice later ruled that the massacre was an act of genocide.
International and regional courts have sentenced 45 people for what happened in Srebrenica to a total of more than 700 years behind bars.
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