UNTIL the rocks and bottles starting flying,
most of the proceedings were solemn and moving, just as they were supposed to
be. Celebrities from all over the world commemorated the 20th anniversary of
the murder of some 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys by Bosnian Serb
forces. Bill Clinton, the former American president and other local, foreign
and Balkan dignitaries made the requisite impassioned and emotional speeches,
vowing that they would never let this happen again.
Thousands listened patiently in the broiling
sun. The remains of 136 victims of the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 lay waiting
to join more than 6,000 others whose remains have been identified and buried in
past years. Then came the prayers. So far so good: even Aleksandar Vucic, the
prime minister of Serbia, had come to pay his respects and to do his bit for
Balkan reconciliation. Then it all went wrong and rocks started flying.
Mr Vucic used to be an extreme nationalist
who supported the Bosnian Serb leaders who committed what two international
tribunals have found to be an act of genocide. Now his past is forgotten by
many who see in him an advocate of modernisation and European integration for
Serbia. But not by everyone.
Amongst the tombstones on the hill a giant
banner was unfurled reminding everyone of something he had once said: “For one
Serb, we will kill 100 Muslims.” A few minutes later Mr Vucic and others were
being moved along a path between the crowds when people began to throw stones
at him. A mass of angry folk began to surge forward, a chant of “Allahu
Akhbar”—God is Great—went up and the security services finally began to do
their job. The Serbian prime minister, who had been hit and whose glasses were
broken was hurriedly evacuated.
That something of the sort would happen was
entirely to be expected. The Serbian security services even warned Mr Vucic. He
said he did not care. Turbulence was anticipated because, in the past few
weeks, Mr Vucic and other Serbian leaders have campaigned against a British
resolution condemning the events of two decades ago and their denial. What they
particularly opposed was the use of the word “genocide”.
On July 8th Russia obligingly stepped in to
veto the resolution. On June 10th, acting on a Serbian warrant, the Swiss
arrested Naser Oric, the wartime Bosniak leader of Srebrenica for alleged
murders of Bosnian Serb civilians. Serbia failed in its bid to have him extradited.
No wonder the mood was hostile.
Whether the stoning of the prime minister
will do long-term damage remains to be seen. Mile, a Srebrenica Serb taxi
driver said relations in the town were always tense about this time of year
“and then everything goes back to normal.” About the stoning he said: “People
will talk about this for a day or two and then it will be over.” That might be
true for Srebrenica, a depressing place which, this time of year apart, only
has a third of its pre-war population. The consequences for the region as a
whole are harder to predict.
Bosniaks saw it as self-evident that the UN
should pass a resolution on what happened here 20 years ago. Bosnian Serbs
however say they are baffled as to why Britain chose to promote it and, in
their view, stir up demons from the past.
And so the status of the Srebrenica massacres
has become one more quarrel along with many others which prevent Bosnia and the
region as a whole from moving forward.
“The politicians are taking this country
backwards,” said Dzeilana, a Srebrenica native who has settled in Sweden. Like
thousands of other people from this region who now live in other parts of
Bosnia or much further afield, she returns in July for a brief reunion of
families and friends from a scattered, wounded community.
Sadly Dzeilana’s words are true: the
unpleasant scenes which unfolded in Srebrenica today can bring no good to the
town, the country or the Balkans. But Mr Vucic insisted afterwards that he
would not rise to provocation.
"There are fools in every nation, there is
no deficit here either," he said, stressing that he "knows that a
majority of Bosniaks do not agree with what happened today."
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