Serbian MPs Offer Apology for Srebrenica Massacre (But Don't Call it Genocide)

Serbia's parliament has passed a landmark resolution offering an apology for the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 — the worst incident of the Bosnian War.

According to BBC News, the resolution says Serbia should have done more to prevent the tragedy. Though approved by a narrow majority, the resolution, however, stopped short of calling the killings a genocide.

The adoption of the resolution comes after years of denial in Serbia that the Srebrenica massacre even took place.

The killing of nearly 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) was carried out by Bosnian Serb forces — allies of then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Meanwhile, a Dutch court has rejected an attempt to hold the United Nations responsible for the massacre.

The resolution was approved after almost 13 hours of heated negotiations in the Belgrade parliament. It was passed with a majority of just two — highlighting how divisive the Srebrenica massacre remains in Serbia almost 15 years on.

The governing Democratic Party believes this resolution will go some way towards rebuilding Serbia's image as it strives for EU membership. But for nationalists, the text reiterates what they see as an unfair demonization of Serbs.

Survivors of Srebrenica say that real reconciliation can only be achieved if the fugitive general Ratko Mladic is finally apprehended.

"The parliament of Serbia strongly condemns the crime committed against the Bosnian Muslim population of Srebrenica in July 1995," the text says. It formally extends "condolences and an apology to the families of the victims because not everything was done to prevent the tragedy."

The pro-Western governing coalition managed to pass the resolution with a slim majority — 127 MPs voted in favor, out of a total of 250. Only 173 were present for the vote.

Photograph: Srdjan Ilic/AP