ZAGREB, 10 July (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who will attend a commemoration in Srebrenica on Friday marking 30 years since the genocide against Bosniaks, has said he is going there to pay respect to the victims, express solidarity with their families, and to clearly and unequivocally condemn the crime.
“I am coming with a deep sense of human and political responsibility towards the more than 8,000 Bosniak men, boys, and civilians who were systematically executed in 1995 in the largest war crime on European soil since the Second World War,” he said in an interview published on Thursday by Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz.
He added that he is doing so for the sake of future generations, convinced that everyone has a duty to promote the truth and oppose any attempts to deny or relativise the crime in order to ensure that such evil is never repeated. “Srebrenica is a painful warning, a place of deep silence and a lasting moral obligation.”
He announced that joining him in Srebrenica on Friday will be Croatian Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, someone who has contributed significantly to fostering a culture of remembrance, and Armin Hodžić, a member of the Croatian parliament representing the Bosniak national minority.
Asked whether this part of Europe can progress without acknowledging crimes such as those committed in Srebrenica and Vukovar in the 1990s, Plenković said these two cities sent a message calling for truth, responsibility, and respect.
He said Croatia not only defended its own freedom during the 1990s but also played a key role in helping to end the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He recalled that presidents Franjo Tuđman and Alija Izetbegović, shortly after the fall of Srebrenica, signed the Split Declaration, which paved the way for joint military operations and the launch of Operation Storm, which liberated large parts of Croatian territory and lifted the siege of Bihać in BiH, preventing further mass atrocities.
The success of these operations ultimately forced Slobodan Milošević to come to the negotiating table, Plenković noted, adding that Croatia’s contribution to ending the war was not only military but also political and diplomatic. Thirty years later, he said, there is a responsibility to preserve the truth about those events and honour the victims.
Commenting on the current relations between Croatia and BiH, Plenković said Croatia saw its neighbour as a friend, bound by many ties.
He said BiH had in Croatia a sincere ally, a reliable neighbour, and the most consistent advocate of its European path, adding that the precondition for this remains a functional state with full equality among the three constituent peoples.
He expressed support for the reforms being pursued by the BiH Council of Ministers.
