Srebrenica remembrance events across Austria highlight fight for truth and justice

Through marches, exhibitions, public discussions and official ceremonies, participants sent a message that lasting peace cannot exist without justice.

Sociologist and social-political analyst Damir Saracevic from the Association of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Organizations in Austria “Consilium Bosniacum” told N1 that the traditional Peace March through central Vienna, organized for around a decade, remains the central event of the annual activities.

“The Peace March through one of Vienna’s main streets and the public gathering at Heldenplatz represent the main event that brings together people from all parts of Austria. The message is always the same: we renew remembrance and truth, with this year’s strong emphasis that there can be no peace without justice,” Saracevic said.

He highlighted the diversity of participants, noting that people from around 10 different national communities take part in the march, including members of Serbian, Croatian, Turkish and Arab communities.

“This is a global message,” he said.

From the Austrian Parliament to the United Nations

Saracevic said that efforts to preserve the truth about Srebrenica in Austria extend beyond public gatherings and have reached the highest institutional levels.

After the Austrian parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide on July 6, 2022, an official commemoration has been held inside the parliament building for the second consecutive year.

“The commemoration in parliament is organized and led by Austrian parliamentarian Alma Zadic, former justice minister of Austria, who chairs the parliamentary friendship group between Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Saracevic said.

He added that the Bosnian Academic Society organized a commemoration at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna, while Consilium Bosniacum hosted a public discussion at Eschenbach Palace featuring genocide survivor Hasan Nuhanovic and Serbian professor Janja Bec Neumann.

A central symbol of remembrance is the “Srebrenica Flower” monument, which Consilium Bosniacum unveiled last year in front of the UN building in Vienna. According to Saracevic, the monument has become a place of education and remembrance visited daily by school groups and passersby.

Across Austria, anniversary events were also held in several cities. In Linz, the city and the “Nur Linz” association officially raised the Srebrenica Flower flag at the main city square, while Salzburg hosted a day-long commemoration and thematic exhibition at Residenzplatz.

Saracevic emphasized that memorialization is essential for achieving genuine peace, arguing that peace cannot be defined solely as the absence of conflict while survivors continue to face genocide denial and discrimination.

“To achieve peace, we need a just society,” he said, recalling a conversation with former High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Valentin Inzko, who explained his decision to introduce a law criminalizing genocide denial with one word: “Conscience.”