BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥 Hungary will vote against a United Nations resolution commemorating the 1995 genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, arguing that it would inflame tensions in the Balkan country and the surrounding region.
P茅ter Szijj谩rt贸 was hosting Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, where Szijj谩rt贸 accused the U.N., as well as the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, of taking steps to destabilize the country that was devastated in the 1992-1995 war.
During that conflict, more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb troops in Srebrenica, an eastern Bosnian enclave. The victims鈥 remains were dumped in mass graves and later reburied to hide evidence of atrocities.
On Wednesday, Szijj谩rt贸 said Hungary would vote against the planned U.N. resolution on the genocide 鈥 which he called the 鈥淪rebrenica tragedy鈥 鈥 because it 鈥渋ntentionally or unintentionally would demonize the entire Serbian nation.鈥
鈥淲e believe that international political actors should end the escalation of tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, end the threat of sanctions and end the violent interference in its internal affairs,鈥 Szijj谩rt贸 said.
The U.N. resolution is supported by Bosniak politicians in Bosnia along with a number of European countries and the United States. Proposed by Germany and Rwanda, it would designate 11 July as the 鈥淚nternational Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica."
Bosnian Serbs and neighboring Serbia have , saying it would brand the Serbs as a 鈥済enocidal nation.鈥 The Serbs are supported by Russia and China.
International courts in The Hague, Netherlands, have branded the crime in Srebrenica a genocide, Europe鈥檚 first since World War II. Bosnian Serb top army officers and political leaders also by U.N. judges.
Dodik, the Bosnian Serb separatist leader of the Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, has denied that the massacre in Srebrenica was a genocide. He was in 2022 that accused him of 鈥渃orrupt activities鈥 that threaten to destabilize the region and undermine a U.S.-brokered peace accord from more than 25 years ago.
On Wednesday, Dodik said the Serbian side 鈥渄oes not dispute that a terrible crime took place in Srebrenica,鈥 but that the U.N. resolution would 鈥渄estabilize the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the extent of completely paralyzing any possible relations.鈥 He thanked Szijj谩rt贸 for taking a position against it.
In a post on X on Wednesday, head of the Srebrenica Memorial Center Emir Suljagi膰 called Hungary's position 鈥渁 deeply troubling stance that cannot be ignored." He blamed the country's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orb谩n, for aligning Hungary 鈥渨ith forces of denial and revisionism, undermining international efforts to acknowledge and learn from this tragedy.鈥
鈥淥rb谩n鈥檚 opposition to the resolution on Srebrenica can be seen as part of a broader pattern of rejecting international consensus on human rights issues,鈥 Suljagi膰 wrote. 鈥淏y refusing to acknowledge the genocide, Hungary under Orb谩n is sending a dangerous message that historical truths can be conveniently ignored for political expediency.鈥
