More victims of the Srebrenica massacre named in 2010. Michael Oibar/Flickr. Some rights reserved.Bosnia and Herzegovina has become a new conflict zone between Russia and the west, according to Kommersant, a leading Russian business daily. This assessment follows a series of developments which, separately taken, might have rung few alarm bells. Yet, in combination, and backed by an intensive propaganda campaign from Belgrade and Banja Luka, they risk shattering the fragile peace which has held Bosnia together for the last two decades.
The current tensions first arose when Russia, at Serbia's request, vetoed a UK draft Security Council resolution marking the Srebrenica genocide. Since genocide had already been established in two international courts, the veto in itself had little significance beyond causing extra friction between the Bosnian Federation and Serbia. But Security Council resolutions are rarely vetoed, and Russia’s stance in this case may intimate a wider agenda in the region.
The next event occurred at the twentieth anniversary commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide at Potocari, when the Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, was targeted with stones, shoes and bottles. There were no injuries of any note, and the incident involved only a handful of the 50,000 or so attending the commemoration, but Vucic grasped the opportunity to respond in what the Serbian media termed ‘statesmanlike’ fashion. ‘Victim of the hour‘, Vucic indicated that he was ready to draw a line under the episode and reach out a hand of reconciliation, while at the same time branding his assailants as fools and hooligans, and blaming the Bosnian authorities for poor security arrangements.
