The revelation that today’s Bratunac Municipal Assembly agenda item on amending the regulatory plan for a parcel intended for a “multi-functional building” actually hides plans for the construction of an Islamic memorial center has sparked outrage, particularly among families of fallen and missing Serb soldiers and civilians.
Zoran Gvozdenović, president of the Bratunac Veterans’ Association, said that the SDA has been trying for a decade to build a form of Islamic memorial center in the heart of Bratunac.
“Bratunac is in Republika Srpska and it does not need such a project. Their goal is to pre-empt the construction of the Serb memorial center for the Birač region, which the Government of Republika Srpska has already decided to establish,” Gvozdenović stated.
He expressed hope that local councilors would be aware of the issue and not allow themselves to be misled into giving consent for regulatory plan changes, warning that such approval would provoke deep dissatisfaction among veterans, bereaved families, and the wider Serb population.
Branimir Kojić, head of the Srebrenica Association of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, stressed that it was unacceptable for Bratunac to approve land for an Islamic memorial center.
“The claim that this is just a multi-functional building is dust in the eyes of Serbs. If allowed, they will easily convert it into an Islamic center presenting only their victims and promoting the narrative of genocide in Bratunac,” said Kojić, warning that Bosniak representatives were rushing to act before construction begins on the memorial center dedicated to 3,267 fallen Serbs from the Birač region.
He called on Serb councilors and the mayor to reject the proposal, underlining that this would otherwise represent a grave insult to Serb victims.
Vladan Radić, secretary of the Bratunac Veterans’ Association, also condemned the initiative, urging councilors to remember who elected them and not to provoke public dissatisfaction.
Vojin Pavlović, president of the “Eastern Alternative” Association, warned that the so-called multi-functional center is only a cover.
“They already have the Potocari Memorial Center just two kilometers away. Building another one in Bratunac would serve only to spread messages portraying even Serb children as genocidal, which is unacceptable,” Pavlović stressed.
He accused Bosniak political actors of acting under the backing of foreign ambassadors and local politicians who aim to weaken Republika Srpska and remove its president, Milorad Dodik.
Source: RTRS
