Croatian former President, Ivo Josipovic, and former Prime Minister, Jadranka Kosor, said on Thursday, ahead of the anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide against Bosniak men and boys, that remembering that tragedy and its victims is a civilisational obligation.

Participating in an online conference of former and current officials from the region and Europe as initiators of the “Leadership initiative for Srebrenica,” the two former senior officials said that the facts about the Srebrenica genocide and its victims are a lasting and undeniable truth, stressing that one must not allow that crime to be downplayed with the passing of time.

“Remembering Srebrenica is not hate towards anyone, it is the truth. That is a truth about which the worst thing is that some people who should tell the truth, that someone with a name and surname committed that horrendous crime, interpret that as an attack on their people. That is not the truth. The truth in fact is a tool for reconciliation, the main tool to live as we should, together, in harmony, in our states but together, I hope,” said Josipovic.

He added that the crime of genocide is in fact a crime against all people even though it is clear that in Srebrenica in 1995 the target of execution and planned extermination were Bosniaks simply because of their ethnicity and religion.

Kosor recalled that during the entire time of her public office, she clearly opposed those who attempted to and still deny the genocide that was committed there.

At the same time as this conference was being held, the chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, Milorad Dodik, participated in another conference entitled “Deconstruction of the myths on coexistence in Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide,” which was organised by the Republika Srpska’s office in Belgrade.

Dodik once again directly disputed that a genocide was committed in Srebrenica despite the facts that were proved in court.