BURNS' ARRIVAL IN BRATUNAC BRINGS HOPE TO FAMILIES OF SERB VICTIMS

SREBRENICA, JULY 6 /SRNA/ - The attendance of the US President`s spiritual adviser, Pastor Mark Burns, at the commemoration marking the 34th anniversary of the crimes against the Serb people of the Podrinje and Birač regions represents hope for the families of Serb victims, the Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica said.

The organization`s president Branimir Kojić expressed hope that Burns had understood the scale of Serb suffering and would convey everything he had seen to the new US administration, and that Serb victims would finally be regarded as equally worthy in the eyes of those who have so far turned away from the truth. "His presence is very important because we want to believe that things are finally changing, and I believe the question of those responsible for these crimes, namely, who killed these people, will finally be addressed," Kojić told SRNA. He said this also demonstrates that the diplomatic efforts of the Republika Srpska leadership are taking on a clearer shape and that, in the future, perceptions of the Serb people and the events of the 1992–1995 war will change. He said that so far, no one except representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation had appeared to pay tribute to Serb victims of the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions, and that he believes Burns has now understood the extent to which efforts were made to prevent Serb victims from being mentioned and to present a distorted image of Serbs to the world. Kojić said it is particularly positive that around 70 journalists were accredited for the commemoration of Serb victims from Middle Podrinje and Birač, which shows that awareness is slowly growing and that the truth about the extensive suffering of the Serb people will finally be heard. Burns attended a commemoration in Bratunac on Saturday, July 4, after which he said he respects the memory of 3,267 Serbs from the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions who were killed between 1992 and 1995. He stressed that innocent Serb victims must not be ignored, minimized, or forgotten.