Albanian parliament rejects resolution on recognizing Srebrenica genocide

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Albania’s parliament on Thursday rejected a resolution recognizing the genocide committed by Serb forces in 1995 in Srebrenica and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The resolution was initiated by Democratic Party MP Tritan Shehu.

The opposition accused the majority led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who all voted against the resolution, of having close ties to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Shehu said it was a bitter and ugly day for the Albanian parliament.

''We are the only parliament that does not have a formal document condemning genocide. It is a day that leaves a heavy mark on the democratic world. A few days ago, these gentlemen voted against the resolution condemning Russian genocide in Ukraine. Today they did not accept the resolution condemning the Serbian genocide. In Bosnia, tomorrow they will not accept to condemn the Serbian genocide in Kosovo. Why? These are our obligations. These are the goals. That is why we are singled out today in the Albanian parliament," Shehu said.

Speaking in parliament, majority whip Taulant Balla from the Socialist Party said they could not support a resolution that is also supported by MP Sali Berisha, who served as Albania’s president during the Srebrenica genocide.

Balla alleged that Berisha had helped then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic commit genocide by sending him oil in violation of an international oil embargo against Serbia.

Berisha denied allegations that he had violated the oil embargo on Serbia, saying that the only embargo he had violated was on sending arms to Bosnia and Croatia, who were fighting against Serbs at the time.

- Bosnian War

Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered great pain during its independence war, including the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.

In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed when Bosnian Serb forces attacked the town of Srebrenica, despite the presence of Dutch peacekeeping troops.

The Serb forces were trying to wrest territory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form a state.

In the spring of 1993, the UN Security Council declared Srebrenica a “safe area.” However, troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic – who was later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide ­– overran the UN zone.

Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing some 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone.

About 15,000 residents of Srebrenica fled to the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 more people.

The bodies of victims have been found in 570 places in the country.

In 2007, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that a genocide had been committed in Srebrenica.

On June 8, 2021, UN tribunal judges upheld a verdict sentencing Mladic to life in prison for the genocide as well as persecution, crimes against humanity, extermination and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.