BRNABIĆ: SERBIA WILL NOT ALLOW FORGETFULNESS TO TURN INTO LIES

BRATUNAC, JULY 5 /SRNA/ – The Speaker of the Serbia’s National Assembly, Ana Brnabić, stated in Bratunac at the memorial service for the murdered Serbs of central Podrinje and Birač that Serbia will not allow forgetfulness to turn into lies, nor allow some crimes to be acknowledged while others are silenced or denied.

"We have gathered at a place of deep sorrow and remembrance, a place of truth and great pride. We stand here, as always and forever, as one people, a people who do not forget and who have declared and decided not to agree to silence any longer. We stand as a people ready to speak the truth that many do not wish to hear - that a monstrous crime was committed against Serbs in central Podrinje and Birač, which no one has been held accountable for," Brnabić said in her address during the commemoration of 33 years since the crime against Serbs in central Podrinje and Birač. Stressing that the suffering of Serb civilians has not been recognised by the international community, Brnabić emphasized that pain should not have a nationality; justice should not have double standards. Brnabić reminded that during the 1992 – 1993 massacres, people were killed solely because they were Serbs, that entire Serb families vanished, yet today many act as if this never happened and no one has ever been held accountable. "That is why it is important that we do not forget, because as long as we remember and speak about it, as long as we exist, the truth will be heard, and there will always be someone to demand justice until the end of time!", Brnabić stressed. She pointed out that even after more than three decades; these tragedies have not been acknowledged in any international resolution; no commemorations in New York, no tears in the European Parliament, no punishments, not even words about it. "When some victims are commemorated with bells, international declarations, resolutions, and numerous delegations, that is not justice - that is a message, and we absolutely do not accept that message and never will," Brnabić declared. She recalled that Serbia has expressed respect for all victims without distinction and warned that anyone who believes that Serbia’s respect for others means it will participate in trampling, silencing, or relativizing Serb victims, or in the demonization of Serbs, Republika Srpska, and Serbia, is gravely mistaken. "Never! Serbia does not seek revenge, only truth and justice and we will not give up. We demand that Serb victims have names, monuments, and respect, that they be seen, acknowledged, and that the crimes against them finally be condemned," Brnabić concluded.