Western Balkans: End dangerous rhetoric ahead of UN Srebrenica resolution vote
“When 100 writers from all the countries that once made up Yugoslavia unite in their cry for peace, even presidents respond. Yes, writers are worried in the Balkans, where we have witnessed unprecedented atrocities. We want to do everything in our power to prevent another war. Therefore, we ask you to listen to our warning and write a peaceful future, one that can only be possible with freedom of speech and the rule of law.” Tanja Tuma, Interim International Secretary of PEN International and President of PEN Slovenia.
17 May 2024: The glorification of war criminals, revisionist narratives and hate speech, and the denial of war crimes and genocide by political leaders in Serbia and Republika Srpska must end at once, PEN International said today, as the UN General Assembly is set to vote on a draft resolution declaring 11 July ‘The International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica’. PEN International has repeatedly warned of the threats such divisive rhetoric poses to freedom of expression, peace, and stability in the Western Balkans region.
On 23 May 2024, members of the UN General Assembly are expected to vote on a resolution that would establish an annual day to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide, which saw over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys systematically executed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 in and around the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and up to 30,000 Bosnian Muslim women, children and elderly persons forcibly transferred from the enclave. The resolution condemns ‘any denial of the Srebrenica Genocide’ and ‘actions that glorify those convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by international courts’ and urges Member States ‘to preserve the established facts, including through their educational systems by developing appropriate programs (…) towards preventing denial and distortion, and occurrence of genocides in the future’.
The UN vote has already been postponed twice, amidst strong opposition by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who has reportedly met with representatives from over 100 nations to persuade them to reject the resolution, as well as Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska (one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who intensified his secessionist rhetoric in recent weeks. Both political leaders are once again inflaming tensions across the Western Balkans region, with marches against the UN resolution notably taking place across in Banja Luka, the capital of Republika Srpska.
In a Congress resolution on threats to freedom of expression, peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia, adopted in September 2023, and a report Toxic Narratives: Silencing Expression in the Western Balkans, published in October 2023, PEN International highlighted the myriad threats and challenges faced by writers and journalists from the region who dared question nationalistic narratives, and demonstrated how the ongoing stigmatisation by political leaders of independent voices breeds new grounds for conflict. On 30 April 2024, alarmed by growing tensions, PEN members from the former Yugoslavia issued a call for peace, endorsed by nearly 100 writers from the region, generating strong media coverage and a rebuttal by Aleksandar Vučić. The English translation of the appeal and full list of signatories can be found below:
“As members of PEN International and writers from the former Yugoslav region, we are warning the world of a clear and present danger of armed conflict in the Western Balkans.
For years now, belligerent narratives of Serb nationalists, aided by the Belgrade authorities and a part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, have been destabilising the region, and primarily Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo.
With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, their aggressive rhetoric advocating for Greater Serbia has been gaining strength throughout the former Yugoslavia. The authorities in Belgrade and in Banja Luka (the entity of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina) are not hiding their sympathies towards Russian imperialist appetites, nor their regard for the support they are receiving from the Kremlin.
In September 2023, armed escalation started with a terrorist attack in Banjska (Kosovo), and as a vote on the UN Resolution on the Srebrenica genocide approaches, secessionist threats of Milorad Dodik in the Republic of Srpska are gaining strength and should not be underestimated. The expected acceptance of Kosovo into the Council of Europe is another critical point because the government of Aleksandar Vučić is showing no inclination to cooperation, peace, and compromise. On the contrary, by announcing Greater Serbia rallies, organised by the Serbian state and the Serbian Orthodox Church, the warmongering attitude of Belgrade is becoming clear and dangerous.
The aggressive Belgrade government, which is openly arming itself, is the main cause of instability in the Western Balkans. In the past, an identical narrative from the same circles pushed us into a bloody ten-year war in the former Yugoslav region. We must not allow this to happen again. We must recognise the danger and clearly raise our voices against armed conflict in the Western Balkans.
We hereby appeal to the Belgrade authorities to accept reconciliation as the only possible political option in the region. We also appeal to the international community to react swiftly to this danger and do everything in its power to prevent the fires of war to flare up yet again in the Western Balkans.
We further state that this appeal is not aimed against the Serbian people; on the contrary, it seeks to also protect them from a government that is trying to manipulate them into new regional conflicts. In addition to this, those who dare criticise the current authorities in Serbia should be protected from threats and violence.
Concerned, we ask for cooperation and peace.”
Adil Olluri
Adnan Čirgić
Ag Apolloni
Agron Gashi
Ahmed Burić
Ajla Demiragić
Aleksandar Radoman
Alida Bremer
Almir Alić
Aljaž Koprivnikar
Amir Brka
Andrea Lešić
Andrej Nikolaidis
Anton Berishaj
Antonije Nino Žalica
Artan Krasniqi
Asmir Kujović
Avni Spahiu
Aziz Mustafa
Barbara Pogačnik
Binak Kelmendi
Boban Batrićević
Boris A. Novak
Branko Čegec
Darja Zaviršek
Diana Burazer
Dije Demiri Frangu
Dražen Katunarić
Dubravka Duba Sambolec
Dušan Gojkov
Đorđe Šćepović
Elvis Ljajić
Engjëll I. Berisha
Esad Duraković
Fahredin Shehu
Faiz Softić
Ferida Duraković
Flamur Maloku
Gëzim Aliu
Ibrahim Berisha
Ibrahim Kadriu
Iva Grgić Maroević
Ivan Herceg
Ivan Radeljković
Izet Perviz
Jasna Šamić
Jelena Luzina
Jelena Šušanj
Lana Derkač
Lidija Dimkovska
Lila Cona
Lindita Tahiri
Lulzim Tafa
Marijan Grakalić
Marko Vidojković
Milan Jazbec
Milazim Krasniqi
Milena Šmit
Milorad Popović
Monika Žagar
Nadežda Čačinović
Naim Kryeziu
Naime Beqiraj
Nataša Konc Lorenzutti
Nenad Popović
Nerimane Kamberi
Nerzuk Ćurak
Nihad Hasanović
Osman Gashi
Safer Grbić
Said Khatibi
Sali Bashota
Sanja Orlandić
Sanja Roić
Sanja Šoštarić
Selma Raljević
Senada Kreso
Sibila Petlevski
Sonja Zubović
Šuhreta Dumanić
Tanja Miletić Oručević
Tanja Tuma
Tijana Rakočević
Tomica Bajsić
Vahid Duraković
Vahidin Preljević
Vanda Mikšić
Vesna Mikolič
Vladimir Martinovski
Xhevahire Izmaku
Zlatko Topčić
Zoran Anchevski
Zvonko Maković
Note to Editors:
For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: Aurelia.dondo@pen-international.org