The US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina assessed as “reprehensible and irresponsible” the denial of the Srebrenica genocide by Milorad Dodik, the President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity (RS) and by other RS leaders during the entity parliament session this week, recalling that the genocide in Srebrenica was confirmed by international courts.

“Genocide denial insults victims of all ethnicities and compounds the suffering of their families. It tears at the fabric of the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, threatens BiH's stability, and is illegal under BiH law,” the Embassy stressed on Friday in response to the RS National Assembly's session from a day earlier, when MPs adopted a document denying the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, and after the rally which gathered thousands in Banja Luka, when Dodik and others repeated their genocide denial.

The session and the rally came as a response of the Bosnian Serb leadership to the announced vote on the Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide at the UN General Assembly which, if adopted, would among other things establish July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

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Genocide took place in Srebrenica in 1995 and this has been repeatedly confirmed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice, the Embassy noted in a statement on Friday.

“Nothing Mr. Dodik says or does can change the facts, even organising an entire day of events dedicated to denying the genocide and spreading disinformation about the resolution currently under consideration in the UN General Assembly. The resolution is an initiative to acknowledge and commemorate the Srebrenica genocide in order to honor its victims. Contrary to Mr. Dodik’s claims, it does not target any UN member state or assign responsibility to any group of people. The repeated denial of the Srebrenica genocide makes this type of international commemoration of the events of 1995 all the more important,” the Embassy said.

As for Dodik's secession threats, the Embassy warned that the US is prepared to respond.

“Mr. Dodik’s threats to pursue the secession of the RS from BiH and his support for unconstitutional RS election legislation are further evidence of his disregard for the Dayton Peace Agreement and his intent to undermine BiH state structures. The creation of a parallel electoral system would be unconstitutional and anti-Dayton, and would deprive RS voters of fundamental democratic rights guaranteed to them in BiH’s constitution. The United States is prepared to respond to such anti-democratic, anti-Dayton actions. We support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and multiethnic character, and we reject any attempt at secession,” it udnerlined.