"Srebrenica crime was committed by traitor to Serbs"

"Srebrenica crime was committed by traitor to Serbs"

Karadzic - after a long and arduous procedure involving the signing of several documents and approval of the (Hague) court and, in this case, of the convict - agreed to, after speaking for the German Zeit, give his first interview to the Serbian media after the verdict of the (Hague) Tribunal, and after he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, for genocide in Srebrenica and crimes against humanity against Muslims and Croats during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina - answering questions about the war events of the 1990s, his role in these events, the causes and consequences, who is to blame for the breakup of Yugoslavia, crimes, Srebrenica, his arrest and extradition...

"I experienced the war with great sadness, even before the war broke out. I was pretty sure what would happen if the course of events continued, with the push towards an illegal and unilateral independence. And not just based on the past but on what happened in Croatia in 1991," said Karadzic.

In the interview for Nedeljnik he said that according to him, the main culprits for the war were "outside Bosnia and Yugoslavia."

"Although inter-ethnic relations were not ideal, we did very well with both Muslim and Croat parties. I had a very good relationship with Mr. (Alija) Izetbegovic...," Karadzic said.

The first president of the Serb Republic and the Hague convict regrets the collapse of Yugoslavia and the way it was dismantled.

"If Yugoslavia had to be dismantled, it should have been done like in Scandinavia. I liked Croatia, where I received a good part of my education, and I've personally never had any problems, but their feelings against Yugoslavia and the Serb prevailed and resulted in one more bloodshed, "said Karadzic.

About the responsibility for the crimes in Srebrenica, Karadzic said:

"Whoever did it was a traitor to the Serb people and damaged the Serb interests the most. This has never happened in our history, and must not have happened then. That was completely idiotic and stupid, to commit a crime that could have been avoided, and at the end of a war that we were winning. For us it was a completely unexpected and incredible. As if a disturbed mind had done it," Karadzic said. In the interview for Nedeljnik, Kradzic also spoke about the pre-war arrangements with Alija Izetbegovic, his stance toward Croatia, a proposal of unification of Serbia and the Serb Republic made to Izetbegovic, Milorad Dodik, the memories of encounters with Aleksandar Vucic, why he still perceives Sarajevo as his city, what he would be doing today if he were free...