The Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, meeting in Potočari, reaffirms the international community’s commitment to supporting the Dayton Agreement, concluded the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, after a meeting at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre.
The participants used the opportunity to once again emphasize the international community’s strong support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, constitutional and legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its continued progress towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) announced.
The meeting of the ambassadors of the PIC Steering Board was held with members of the Board of Heads of Leading International Organizations, as well as with the Director of the Memorial Centre, Emir Suljagić, and Munira Subasic, president of the “Mothers of the Srebrenica and Žepa Enclave” Movement, who told reporters after the meeting that she was satisfied with Schmidt’s initiative to bring the ambassadors to Srebrenica.
The session was also attended by EUFOR Commander in BiH Florin-Marian Barbu, Ambassador of Great Britain Julian Reilly and Brian Aggeler of the OSCE Mission in BiH.
The session was held in the Memorial Center as a sign of support for the efforts to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica and honor the memory of its victims, OHR said after the session.
Schmidt said that the employees of the Memorial Center have the qualifications and abilities to create a vision of honest dialogue between all peoples and peaceful coexistence.
“It’s about remembering and coming to the right conclusions. Never again should the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina become victims of hatred, incitement or violence because of their origin, religion or ethnicity,” said Schmidt.
The session was also attended by the Deputy Mayor of the Srebrenica Municipality, Hamdija Fejzić, who told Detektor that the discussion focused on marking the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide and improving the Memorial Center as a place that preserves the memory of the victims.
He says that he will continue the meeting with some of the ambassadors to discuss projects that would improve the life of the local community.
Detektor reminds that PIC sessions are normally held in Sarajevo, and the session in Srebrenica comes at a time of crisis caused by Milorad Dodik and the authorities of Republika Srpska.
A month ago, when laws were adopted that nullified the jurisdiction of state judicial and police institutions, the Srebrenica Memorial Center was closed to the public, and employees worked from home.
After consultations with the High Representative and EUFOR representatives, the employees returned to the Center.
