Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic said on Tuesday the decision on whether Montenegro will co-sponsor the United Nations resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica rests with the Montenegrin government.

Milatovic, speaking in Cetinje after a meeting with Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, emphasized that Montenegro maintains a clear stance on the issue of the Srebrenica genocide.

“As for whether the government has changed its opinion regarding the state's position, that is a question for the government,” Milatovic stated.

The Montenegrin parliament adopted a resolution on Srebrenica in 2021, which strongly condemns the genocide in Srebrenica and prohibits the public denial or downplaying of the Srebrenica genocide, designating 11 July as a day of remembrance for the victims of Srebrenica.

Last week, 75 Montenegrin NGOs and 65 individuals submitted an initiative to the government for Montenegro to sponsor the UN resolution commemorating the genocide in Srebrenica. However, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic's government has yet to comment on this initiative.

Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar remarked that the issue of Srebrenica is not easy, but everyone knows that there are court rulings that have classified genocide as genocide, and there should be no debate about it.

“Slovenia has decided to co-sponsor the resolution because it is about the message we convey to future generations. It is a challenging ask, but we must acknowledge our past actions to move forward. That is my sincere message to the people of Montenegro,” Pirc Musar said.

A draft resolution calling for 11 July to be declared the International Day of Remembrance of the Genocide committed in Srebrenica in 1995 and condemning the denial of genocide and the glorification of war criminals was recently presented at the UN headquarters in New York.

Representatives from Germany, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina presented the text of the resolution, with attendees from 17 co-sponsoring countries. Arguments in favour of adopting the resolution were presented by representatives of Germany, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while diplomats from Serbia, Russia, China, North Korea, Venezuela, and Nicaragua argued against adopting such a document.