President to miss Srebrenica commemoration

President to miss Srebrenica commemoration

The Belgrade-based newspaper Danas is reporting that it was told at the presidency Nikolic "has no plans to travel to Potocari on July 11."

The article notes that Croatian, Slovenian, and Montenegrin presidents will attend and, "according to media reports in the region," pay homage to the victims and send a message that what happened in Srebrenica should never be repeated anywhere.

The organizing committee has been quoted as saying they expect about 30 high delegations and around 50,000 citizens to attend.

The daily added that it learned from his cabinet that Nikolic will be on his official visit to Sarajevo on June 16 "the first since he became president in 2012," and compared it to PM Aleksandar Vucic's trips there immediately after he took office, and also, "some ten days ago."

A source from the presidential cabinet is further quoted as saying that Nikolic "suggested to Bakir Izetbegovic to together visit both Serb and Bosniak (Muslim) graves, but received no response."

The only top official of Serbia who attended a commemoration in Potocari was former Serbian President Boris Tadic, in 2005.

The article said that Bosnian Serb forces overran the enclave in eastern Bosnia 20 years ago killing about 8,000 Muslims, mostly men and young men, and that this was the biggest crime in Europe since WW2 for which Ratko Mladic is on trial at the Hague Tribunal.