Parliament to discuss declaration on crimes

The Serbian Parliament Collegium will discuss a draft declaration condemning crimes against Serbs, it has been announced. These crimes were committed during the 1990s wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo during the NATO bombing. Parliament to discuss declaration on crimes Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic distributed the draft to MPs, which will be discussed on Wednesday. The document does not state any concrete crimes. Ruling Democrats (DS) spokeswoman Jelena Trivan said that her party’s proposal to call upon the public and parliaments in the region to condemn crimes against Serb population had been adopted. “Nobody can interfere in the affairs of other countries, but we can express our expectation that those countries will condemn crimes committed against Serbs and contribute to the reconciliation process,” said she. The DS spokeswoman added that their proposal also included calling upon international organizations which had been dealing with investigations and processing of war crimes to finish what they had started and convict the perpetrators. Chief of opposition Serb Radical Party (SRS) parliamentary group Dragan Todorovic said that the proposed declaration was pointless, stating that it was “impossible that authorities did not realize that not only has no one accepted to apologize for the crimes against Serbs but that some were celebrating the crimes as their military successes”. He stressed that SRS was going to the Collegium in order to request its two draft declarations to also be put on the parliament's agenda – one condemning the Armenian genocide, and the other condemning crimes against Serbs, Roma and Jews during World War II in Croatia. Chief of opposition DSS parliamentary group Milos Aligrudic stated that his party officials would not attend the meeting tomorrow, and repeated that DSS believed all crimes needed to be condemned together. The Serbian parliament recently adopted a resolution condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. “The proposed declaration condemning crimes against Serbs doesn’t have political significance as far as we're concerned, and it’s done only as a complementary act of Srebrenica declaration,” said Aligrudic.

Parliament to discuss declaration on crimes

Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović distributed the draft to MPs, which will be discussed on Wednesday. The document does not state any concrete crimes.

Ruling Democrats (DS) spokeswoman Jelena Trivan said that her party’s proposal to call upon the public and parliaments in the region to condemn crimes against Serb population had been adopted.

“Nobody can interfere in the affairs of other countries, but we can express our expectation that those countries will condemn crimes committed against Serbs and contribute to the reconciliation process,” said she.

The DS spokeswoman added that their proposal also included calling upon international organizations which had been dealing with investigations and processing of war crimes to finish what they had started and convict the perpetrators.

Chief of opposition Serb Radical Party (SRS) parliamentary group Dragan Todorović said that the proposed declaration was pointless, stating that it was “impossible that authorities did not realize that not only has no one accepted to apologize for the crimes against Serbs but that some were celebrating the crimes as their military successes”.

He stressed that SRS was going to the Collegium in order to request its two draft declarations to also be put on the parliament's agenda – one condemning the Armenian genocide, and the other condemning crimes against Serbs, Roma and Jews during World War II in Croatia.

Chief of opposition DSS parliamentary group Miloš Aligrudić stated that his party officials would not attend the meeting tomorrow, and repeated that DSS believed all crimes needed to be condemned together.

The Serbian parliament recently adopted a resolution condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

“The proposed declaration condemning crimes against Serbs doesn’t have political significance as far as we're concerned, and it’s done only as a complementary act of Srebrenica declaration,” said Aligrudić.