Today, October 15 2008, the delegation of the "Mothers of Enclaves of Srebrenica and Žepa Association" visited the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels to hand over the proposal for the resolution on Srebrenica to declare July 11 the European day of genocide (mourning) for Srebrenica to Vice-President of the European Parliament Mrs. Diana Wallis. The presentation of the proposal was attended also by the Slovenian MEP Jelko Kacin, who had organised the visit of EP Vice-President Diana Wallis from ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) at this year's commemoration ceremony in Potočari.
The ceremony for the genocide in Srebrenica is at the same time the commemoration of all the victims of mass war crimes committed in Borovo selo, Vukovar, Škabrnja, Sarajevo, Brčko, Mostar, Žepa, Račko and other towns in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo during the Balkan wars at the end of the 20th century.
Mothers of Srebrenica were received also by the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pötering (EPP-ED), who was presented with the copy of the resolution.
The IFIMES International Institute welcomes the Mothers of Srebrenica initiative as well as the response from the European Parliament. Mothers of Srebrenica, representing the moral authority of humanity, managed to prepare the resolution on Srebrenica without the co-operation of domestic politicians who often use the Srebrenica tragedy for political purposes. Mothers of Srebrenica, who lost their dearest in the war, are aware that the future of the West Balkans depends on truth, justice and reconciliation and that was the reason they visited the European Parliament as they see the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole West Balkan region in the EU as a stable and secure environment for the future generations.
European Parliament is a very respectable EU institution whose members are the only directly elected functionaries in the EU. It has all the moral credibility and therefore we expect that it will adopt the resolution on Srebrenica to declare July 11 the European day of mourning for the victims of war crimes. Bearing in mind the reputation of the European Parliament we hope and expect that against the background of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue the proposed resolution would be supported by all political groups and a large majority of MEPs.
Ljubljana, 15 October 2008
