The Srebrenica resolution can be a point of division, wrote Nenad Stevandić, President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, in a letter addressed to Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
The letter from the President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska is presented in its entirety:
Dear Prime Minister of Montenegro,
Please do not take this letter as an insult, provocation, or ill intention towards you personally or towards Montenegro.
Dear Mr. Spajić, acknowledging the position you hold and assessing that you are a person who can evaluate the current circumstances of overall relations in the world and their repercussions on Serbian-Montenegrin relations, I remind you that there are no two peoples closer than Serbs and Montenegrins, nor is there anything that has better withstood the test of time and hardships than these relations.
First, I want to inform you that the National Assembly of Republika Srpska has adopted a Protest against the violation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and general international law. Unlike Montenegro or Serbia, BiH does not have its own constitution; its constitution is the Dayton Agreement, an international treaty. Thus, Mr. Zlatko Lagumdžija not only violated the Constitution of BiH but also an international act. The sponsors and co-sponsors of the resolution, as well as those who vote for it, are also violating an international treaty which stipulates that BiH cannot make decisions or raise issues without the consensus of all three peoples and two entities.
This resolution lacks such consensus and is legally void, but power has never been void. You, Mr. Spajić, are fully aware of the opinions and sentiments of the Serbian people, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and all the citizens of Montenegro by whose will you were elected Prime Minister and received support in the party you lead.
You are also aware that this can be a point of division that will sow seeds of hatred and discord and render Montenegro unstable in the future because it is difficult to remain silent or without a response to what the Serbs consider one of their sacred values and commitments: that they are a people who survived genocide, not who committed it. There is ample evidence for this. I want to highlight a few facts to you.
The greatest world authorities, Mr. Gideon Greif, Mr. Efraim Zuroff, and Mr. Yehuda Bauer, have disputed the Srebrenica resolution from a scientific standpoint. Science always stands above political and geopolitical relations.
The moral aspect of this is problematic as it leads to divisions and conflicts rather than reconciliation, as a resolution on reconciliation would be the only logical and morally superior to condemnatory resolutions. And finally, the legal aspect, as I have already mentioned, this resolution is issued in violation of the Constitution of BiH and the international agreement that defines decision-making in BiH by the consensus of peoples and entities.
All three points, of which I believe you are aware, will be violated by Montenegro through clear violation of the Dayton Agreement, which explicitly prescribes them, but will also permanently damage good Serbian-Montenegrin relations, bringing not only the Balkans but also Montenegro itself into a field of conflict and instability that will be difficult or impossible to mitigate and balance.
I want to ask you, recognizing that you are more aware of the situation than the President of Montenegro and more aware of the responsibility for Montenegro’s stability, that if you cannot oppose, you abstain from this violation of international law.
Wishing you good relations and rational decisions in the future, I must once again ask you not to stain Serbian-Montenegrin relations, Montenegrin chivalry, and Serbian suffering and the victims of genocide by labeling our people as those responsible for genocide. You are aware that this resolution aims precisely at that and is a geopolitical project, not justice or law or respect for any victim.
If we are to be honest and fair, I know you think the same as I do, as does almost the entire Serbian people regardless of where they are and in which country they live, and I know you are doing this under pressure, but the Montenegrin rule is that honor and shame live forever, and that abstaining from voting does not risk anyone’s life. Bereft of hope that morality is stronger than force, but sincerely believing in chivalry, I wish you all the best and health.
Source: RTRS
