Commemorating Srebrenica: Repressed memories and growing tensions

Commemorating Srebrenica: Repressed memories and growing tensions

On July 11, 2025, the world will commemorate one of the darkest chapters in European history: the Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serb soldiers and irregulars murdered 8,372 Bosniaks in July 1995. Internationally, this crime is recognized as genocide, despite attempts by many Serbs to deny or relativize the acts. It is an issue that continues to cause tension and conflict today, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also far beyond.

One of the survivors, Nedzad Avdic, remembers the nightmarish nights of the massacre. He was only 17 years old when he was seriously injured during his execution on July 14-15, 1995, but played dead and managed to escape. “The genocide is not over as long as the past is not dealt with,” emphasizes Avdic, who now lives in Srebrenica again. The population there is half Bosniak and half Serbian, which makes coexistence difficult, as Almasa Salihovic also reports at the Potocari Memorial.

Security concerns and political tensions

However, memories of the atrocities are increasingly overshadowed by political tensions and security concerns. Recently, the Srebrenica Memorial Center had to close its doors, for the first time since its construction, due to fears of riots. This decision was published on March 7, 2025 and is directly related to the sentencing of Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, to one year in prison and a six-year ban from politics, causing excitement in the region.

Dodik is at the center of the controversy, comparing the number of people killed during the genocide to the 3,600 Serbs who died in the region since the war began. Vice President Camil Durakovic has sharply criticized this comparison, stressing that such rhetoric undermines the memory of the victims of the genocide.

While in Banja Luka, the capital of Republika Srpska, the genocide is practically not discussed and students report that they hardly learn anything about the Bosnian War in class, journalist Aleksandar Trifunovic is facing dangerous threats because he conducts interviews with Bosniak survivors. His reporting is a courageous attempt not to let history be forgotten.

The path to reconciliation

The assessment of the atrocities by Dodik and other Republika Srpska leaders remains problematic. While the laws prohibiting the state judiciary from operating in the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia-Herzegovina raise necessary questions, there are numerous international voices, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for an end to this dangerous political rhetoric.

The government system in Bosnia-Herzegovina is complicated and marked by ethnic divisions that still have an impact. It is clear that an honest confrontation with the past, as Avdic and Salihovic demand, is essential in order to find a common path to reconciliation. The political tensions that shape the present are a constant reminder that the lessons of history cannot be ignored.