MFA: Minister Blanar to Commemorate 30th Anniversary of Srebrenica Genocide

Bratislava, 10 July (TASR) - Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) left for Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica on Friday (11 July), TASR has been told by the ministry's communications department. The chief Slovak diplomat will attend the commemorative event at the Memorial Centre in Potocari at the invitation of Foreign Affairs Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic. "Participation in the official commemoration is an expression of the Slovak Republic's respect for the more than 8,000 victims of one of the most tragic events in recent European history. At the same time, Slovakia will show its solidarity with all those who were deeply affected by this tragedy," said the communications department. According to the ministry, the Srebrenica genocide was the worst massacre in Europe since the end of the Second World War and has marked European history forever. During a few days in July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were murdered in the area, which at the time was declared a United Nations safe zone. The victims of the tragedy were hoping for the protection of the international community up until the last minute. The Srebrenica massacre was subsequently unequivocally qualified as genocide by international judicial institutions - the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. am/df