Serbia will not go to war with Bosniaks, will preserve peace: President

BELGRADE, Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Friday his country will not go to war with Bosniaks or anyone and will not succumb to provocations

Vucic’s remarks came in an address to the nation one day after the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.

At the collective funeral in Potocari, Srebrenica, Denis Becirovic, chairman of the presidency which rotates among three members every eight months, said there are numerous similarities with the balance of power.

“Today, the leaders of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entity of the Republika Srpska are saying it again. Great Serbian protagonists said publicly that their goal was a greater Serbia, despite the fact that aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity and other crimes were committed because of that dangerous project,” said Becirovic.

Commenting on Becirovic’s remarks, Vucic said in the last 12 years as the head of Serbia, he has continuously called for respect for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war.

“That ‘big state policy’ in Belgrade is based on the fact that every time in the previous 12 years we recognized and have recognized the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but we also understand the Dayton Peace Agreement and the integrity of Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina. What bothered you there? You have never heard any other statement from me,” said Vucic.

He added that for 12 years he “heard that he killed someone with a sniper around Sarajevo” but asserted that he “never held a sniper in his hand.”

“Neither with a sniper, nor with a rifle, nor did he kill anyone, anything, anywhere, nor did he shoot in this or that way,” said Vucic.

“I tell you openly, we will not go to war against you. You can do what you want, you can invent, you can provoke as much as you want, we will not go to war against you. We will not go to war against Bosniaks. And that is my message to both Bosniaks in Serbia and Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We will do our best to avoid that, I hope that it will not occur to them to abolish the Republika Srpska and to kill the Serbian people, we will not fall for their provocations”, said Vucic.

He added that Serbia would keep the peace because “too many terrible things were happening” and there were victims on all sides.

More than 100,000 victims killed during war

On Dec. 21, 1991, the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a federal structure was established within Yugoslavia.

The Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was then declared Jan. 9, 1992.

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence after a referendum wad held Feb. 29 and March 1 in 1992 which sparked a three-year war.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted until Dec. 14, 1995, and more than 100,000 victims were killed and 2 million had to migrate.

The fate of 7,000 who disappeared during the war, is still unknown.

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