The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the Srebrenica genocide. 11 July is thus established as the "International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide".
The resolution received 84 votes in favour, 19 against and 68 abstentions.
Bulgaria and all Balkan countries, except Greece, supported the resolution. "Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Turkey voted in favour. "Serbia voted against and Greece abstained.
Ahead of the vote, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned the General Assembly that the move "will simply open old wounds and it will lead to complete political chaos".
But he said he did not deny the killings in Srebrenica, adding that he bowed his "head to all the victims of the conflict in Bosnia".
"This resolution aims to promote reconciliation in the present and in the future," said Germany's ambassador to the UN, Antje Leendertse.
She said "false accusations" had been made against the resolution and stressed that it was not aimed at Serbia.
"False accusations have been circulated about the text of this resolution, it is not directed against anyone, especially Serbia, a respected member of the organisation, but exclusively against the perpetrators of the genocide", Lenderze said at the presentation of the resolution.
Church bells rang throughout Serbia in protest. The Serbian Orthodox Church said it hoped the gesture would unite Serbs in "prayers, serenity, mutual solidarity and steadfastness in doing good despite the false and unjust accusations it faces at the UN."
Meanwhile, Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik denied that there was ever a genocide in the Bosnian town and said his administration would not recognise the UN resolution.
"There was no genocide in Srebrenica," Dodik told a press conference in Srebrenica.
The European Union reacted sharply, with foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano saying "there can be no denial" and "anyone who tries to question this has no place in Europe".
On 23 May, RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic said the entity would draft a peaceful disengagement agreement in the next 30 days, which it would send to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"We do not want conflicts. This is not secession, but peaceful separation. If someone considers us a genocidal nation, there is no reason for coexistence," Viskovic said, pointing out that the current situation is a consequence of the Srebrenica resolution.
In July 1995, in the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica, Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic massacred more than 9,000 people in just a few days. The bodies of more than 8000 of them have been found to this day. They are buried in the area of Potocari near Srebrenica.
At the time of the Srebrenica massacre, Vucic was Minister of Information for the war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. At the time, before the parliament in Belgrade, Aleksandar Vučić stated that "for every Serb killed, 100 Bosnians will be killed."
The massacre is considered the worst single atrocity in Europe since World War II.
In addition to declaring a day of remembrance, the resolution condemns "any denial" of the genocide and calls on UN member states to "preserve the established facts."
In a letter to other UN members, Germany and Rwanda described the vote as "a crucial opportunity to unite in honouring the victims and to recognise the crucial role of international courts."
Serbia reacted furiously.
In an attempt to reduce tensions, the authors of the resolution added - at the request of Montenegro - that the blame for the genocide was "individual and cannot be attributed to any ethnic, religious or other group or community as a whole".
However, this is not enough for Belgrade.
In a letter sent on 19 May to all UN delegations, Serbia's Charge d'Affaires Sacha Mart warned that raising "historically sensitive issues only serves to deepen divisions and could lead to further instability in the Balkans".
Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya called the resolution "provocative" and "a threat to peace and security".
Earlier, Moscow vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning "the crime of genocide in Srebrenica".
For relatives of the massacre victims, the UN debate is an important moment in their quest for peace.
"Those who brought their people to this situation (denial of genocide) must accept the truth so that we can all find peace and move on with our lives," said Kada Hotić, 79, co-director of the Srebrenica Mothers Association, who lost her son, husband and two brothers.
The resolution is "extremely important for spreading the truth", said Denis Becirovic, the Bosnian member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency. / BGNES
