Emotional Vucic as UN votes on Srebrenica commemoration day

This was the moment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic heard the result of the United Nations vote: July 11 will now be the annual day of remembrance for the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The resolution, proposed by Germany and Rwanda, was approved with 84 votes in favor, 19 against, and 68 abstentions. The new ‘International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica,’ will remember the over 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys who were killed by units of the Bosnian-Serb military, under the command of Ratko Mladic. Vucic, however, condemned the resolution, arguing it unfairly targets Serbia and its people, and warned that the resolution could lead to further divisive measures. He also questioned why similar resolutions have never been passed for Serb victims of genocide. Vucic has always sought a ‘policy of reconciliation’ over Srebrenica, has never questioned the genocide charges against Mladic and others, and has condemned it as ‘a horrible crime,’ but has fallen short of acknowledging the events as genocide. Culpability for the massacre has always been a controversial question, and while many call it a Serbian genocide, others have vehemently denied this, or even called Mladic a hero. While the International Court of Justice recognized the Srebrenica massacre as genocide in 2007, it found Serbia was not directly responsible, although failed to prevent it. Judging from the quite visible emotion on Vucic’s face as the result of the vote was announced, he certainly doesn’t think the world will hold such a balanced view.