Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the Srebrenica massacre by Bosnian Serbs in 1995 and defended Belgrade's policy.
"The purpose of the Srebrenica Genocide Resolution is to crush the Serbs. This purpose has never disappeared. 10 years ago they tried to push such a resolution in the UN Security Council, but we (Russia) used the veto. It is impossible to explain what are the Europeans practically guided by when they push this idea, except for one reason - the Serbs are too independent in their actions and do not obey requests to join the sanctions against Russia," the diplomat said in an interview with the Bosnian-Serb TV channel ATV .
The Srebrenica massacre was the largest on the European continent since the Second World War (WWW). In the summer of 1995, in the protected enclave, Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Radko Mladic massacred thousands of Bosnian Muslims in hours. So far, the bodies of nearly 8,800 of them have been identified and are buried in Potocari near Srebrenica.
Lavrov pointed out that the West has given an ultimatum to Belgrade to recognize Kosovo if it wants to join the European Union.
"They say to Belgrade: do you want to become a member of the European Union? Recognize Kosovo and join the sanctions against Russia, because EU membership automatically implies a fight against Russia. They say this to the Serbs, completely ignoring the history of our friendship, joint battles for freedom , for independence, for Orthodoxy, ultimately for the Slavs? The West is absolutely not interested in all this and wants to destroy it," said the Russian Foreign Minister.
"Shameful actions were taken in the Council of Europe. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted to admit Kosovo as a full member. In a few weeks, the Committee of Ministers will consider the same issue. There is no doubt that they will push through this decision. In the Council of Europe, they are already justifying their actions in Kosovo with the fact that there is progress in the fight against corruption and the creation of an effective justice system. Everyone knows that Kosovo is a territory of complete lawlessness they blush, they say that this territory is hardly a "beacon" of democracy. It is the territory of organized crime, the territory of ethnic cleansing of the Serbs," added Lavrov.
The Russian diplomat claims that the West wants to cause "irreparable damage" to Orthodoxy and the Orthodox world.
"Since 2003, the "outflow" of Serbs (from Kosovo) has continued. In January 2003, about 15% of the then Serbs have already left. Orthodoxy is being eradicated quite obviously. The West likes that. The West wants irreparable damage to Orthodoxy and the Orthodox world to be under the leadership of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who in turn is under the direct rule of the US, dependent on them financially and doing all their "whims," he said.
Sergey Lavrov defended the leader of the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina /BiH/ Milorad Dodik - President of Republika Srpska.
"In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik is presented as the 'main villain' who supposedly destroys the Dayton Peace Agreement, although in fact he and his team are the only ones in Bosnia fighting for the Dayton principles," the foreign minister said.
Lavrov said that the top representative of the international community in the country, Christian Schmidt, is "illegitimate".
"He is trying in every way to discredit the Republika Srpska. He is drawing a line towards the unitarization of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is "flirting" with some political forces among the Bosnian Croats. But still, they have their own vision of how to protect their identity and the Dayton principles of equality of All this is done by people who periodically accuse us and other countries of violating the UN Charter and the resolutions of the Security Council. And what they are promoting as a program for Bosnia and Herzegovina is a direct undermining of the resolution The UN Security Council," Lavrov added.
"For the United States, the resolutions on Palestine and the Balkans, if they reflect the interests (in particular of the Serbian people), are not binding. We must proceed from that," he said. /BGNES
