ACKNOWLEDGE ALL VICTIMS, BUT ALSO THE TRUTH

BANJA LUKA, JULY 11 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska advocates a rational approach that includes acknowledging all victims, but also insists on the truth to preserve peace and stability in BiH through agreement among domestic actors, without interference from international factors, former Minister of Internal Affairs Darko Matijašević told SRNA.

"We need stability, and everything must be placed within a legal framework. We must acknowledge that there were victims on all sides. Many Serbs were killed in the Podrinje and Birač regions, where ritual killings occurred and entire villages were wiped out," Matijašević said. He pointed out that there is a clear disproportion and political exploitation of war crimes when it comes to the suffering of Bosniaks in Srebrenica in July 1995 which, he said, leads to the stigmatization of the Serbian people as genocidal, adding that lobbying is being carried out secretly and unofficially in the UN Security Council, bypassing BiH institutions, proper procedures, and without any essential domestic consensus. "This is not good," Matijašević said. He emphasized that Republika Srpska respects every victim, every pain and hardship, and that the Serbs, as a people who have historically endured the greatest suffering, are now protecting their national interests. "We respect every victim and condemn every crime, particularly Serbs with their tradition who endured genocide throughout centuries," Matijašević emphasized. He pointed out that BiH institutions must be careful of every attempt to exploit the suffering in the Defense Patriotic War for political purposes. "We should approach everything rationally and acknowledge all perspectives in the interest of the future, stability, peace, dialogue, and agreement, while excluding any foreign interference. We must not serve the interests of external actors, but rather focus on the interests of our peoples and nations," Matijašević concluded.