SHAMEFUL THAT VON DER LEYEN DID NOT PAY TRIBUTE TO MURDERED SERBS

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 15 /SRNA/ – The Organization of Senior Officers of the Republika Srpska Army /RSA/ described as shameful the fact that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited only Potočari near Srebrenica, showing empathy solely for Bosniak victims of the war in BiH, and stressed that officials of Srpska and BiH should formally demand an apology from the EU for discriminating against murdered Serbs.

If there is no apology from the EU, the RSA senior officers believe that Republika Srpska should urgently reconsider its position on all processes and relations with BiH and the EU. “Von der Leyen clearly either does not know the history of BiH and the history of the last war, or this is a case of classic discrimination and mockery of the victims from other peoples in BiH,” the statement said. The Organization of Senior Officers of the RSA pointed out that had von der Leyen gone to the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Bratunac, she would have seen the monuments of those who were killed by the very people whose shadows she bowed to in Potočari. “If she came as a European official, does that mean she acted there in accordance with the official European politics towards the victims of all peoples in BiH? If so, then both she and the EU she represents should be ashamed,” the statement reads. The Organization of Senior Officers of the RSA believes that such an approach increasingly contributes to the disintegration of BiH as the only viable – Dayton-based, and further distances BiH from EU membership. The Organization also raised the question of whether the Serb people and the Republika Srpska even need an EU of the kind represented by von der Leyen, one that lacks even the minimum empathy and understanding for Serb war victims. “How long do they intend to humiliate, insult, and treat us as stupid and uncivilized? How long will they keep offering us ‘sugar-coated lies’ and try to buy our dignity and patriotism for a handful of their euros? How long are we willing to endure such humiliation?” they asked from the Organization. The Organization of Senior Officers of the RSA has stated that it is high time for Serbs to realize whether they need such a community as the EU if it only brings them insults and humiliation. Von der Leyen was in BiH yesterday, where she met with members of the BiH Presidency and Chairperson of the Council of Ministers Borjana Krišto, and earlier visited the Potočari Memorial Center near Srebrenica.