The Assembly of Albania approved today in a plenary session the draft resolution for the commemoration and honoring of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica.

The chairman of the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party, Taulant Balla, in the presentation of this draft resolution on behalf of the SP group, stated that the massacres that took place in Srebrenica are acts of genocide and that they should be called by the real name of genocide.

"Thousands of men executed and buried in mass graves, hundreds of men buried alive, and as many hundreds mutilated and slaughtered, children killed before their mothers' eyes, a grandfather forced to eat his grandson's liver . These are truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history, International Criminal Court Judge Fouad Riad would declare as he opened the Srebrenica criminal indictment against Ratko Mladic and wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on November 16, 1995", said Balla.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, in her speech to the Assembly, invited the opposition MPs to join the votes and approve the draft resolution on the Serbian genocide in Srebrenica.

Xhaçka congratulated his colleagues for this initiative to declare July 11 – the Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica.

"This is an initiative that relies on the resolutions of the European Parliament on the Commemoration of this Genocide and the assessments of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe of March 22, 2017. But above all, this is an initiative that comes as a culmination of Albania's long-standing and uncompromising positions in the punishment of this crime, but also of other crimes against the civilian population in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo", declared the minister.

While the deputy of the Democratic Party Jorida Tabaku, in her speech, said that our parliament should have approved such a resolution a long time ago.

Tabaku said that twenty-seven years ago, under the leadership of Ratko Mladic, the Serbian forces in Srebrenica committed one of the most brutal and criminal acts in the sad and rather dark history of the Balkans.

Even the President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Shefik Xhaferovic, thanked the Parliament of Albania today in a video message at the session where the draft resolution was discussed for the commemoration and honoring of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica.

In his speech, the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sefik Xhaferovic, thanked the Albanian MPs for the approval of the Srebrenica genocide resolution.

"It's been 27 years since the genocide in Srebrenica, the biggest crime on European soil after the Second World War. "In just a few days, after July 11, 1995, Republika Srpska army and police units killed more than 8000 men and boys," he said.

After the presentation of the resolution proposed by the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party, the Speaker of the Assembly invited those present to observe a minute of silence in honor of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre.

In the Resolution for Srbrenica, initiated by the SP, it is stated that,

"The Assembly of the Republic of Albania confirms Albania's position that the denial of the genocide committed against the Bosnian population in Srebrenica by the Bosnian Serb forces constitutes a violation of international law, promotes the phenomenon of impunity for war crimes, and violates the dignity of more than 8 thousand civilians who were massacred in Sreberenice, survivors and their families, but also to about 10 thousand Albanians killed during the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and 20 thousand women raped by the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic;

Expresses deep pain for the victims and human traumas caused by the genocide in Srebrenica, as well as full understanding and sincere sympathy for all those injured during the bloody war in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

Strongly condemns any tendency and action to publicly deny, intentionally or not, the genocide committed in Srebenica, concealing the motives, glorifying the authors, originators and supporters of this genocide, as well as considers the continuation and escalation of rhetoric unacceptable and extremely dangerous nationalist politics, the incitement of ethnic hatred as a result of the denial of the genocide committed in Srebrenica, massacres and other crimes against humanity committed throughout the former Yugoslavia by some individuals, groups, and political and media actors inside and outside the Balkan region ;

It is joined with the assessment that the positions of the candidates for membership in the EU must fully comply not only with the acquis of the EU, but also with the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, in line with those principles and values ​​established by The European Union and all democratic countries, according to which the denial and public non-condemnation of the genocide in Srebenica is incompatible with European values ​​and aspirations;

It calls on all member countries of the United Nations and international and national justice bodies to increase their commitment and serious efforts to prosecute and punish war criminals and their collaborators responsible for genocide and other war crimes . It appeals to the European Union, NATO and each of their member countries, to

work intensively to accelerate the expansion processes, as a guarantee of the consolidation of democratic values, peace and security in the region of the Western Balkans, Europe and beyond.

It expresses full support for the positions, actions and measures taken by the Albanian Government in support of the principles on which European security is built, and the global order of relations between states.

Appreciating and supporting the serious, professional and responsible commitment of the Albanian Government in fulfilling Albania's role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2022-2023, it asks the Government to: Continue the commitment its defense of the principles and norms of international law and the strengthening of accountability for its serious violations, in close coordination with all allied and partner countries of the Security Council, the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe;

To honor the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica and, referring to the decision of the European Parliament, to declare July 11 as the Day of Remembrance of the genocide in Srebrenica;

To give its full contribution in support of the deepening of reforms and democratic processes for the consolidation of a society ruled by law, justice and the protection of human dignity, the spirit of regional cooperation, good neighborliness and European integration, as the only way to overcome hatred and divisions, to promote justice on the basis of which peace, security and reconciliation are built between peoples in the region, Europe and beyond.

To work tirelessly for the strengthening of good neighborly relations with other countries of the Western Balkans, in the spirit of mutual respect, the principles of equality, the spirit of reconciliation and understanding to build a common future of justice, strengthening political ties, economic and trade between countries as well as contacts between people, for the sake of peace, security, economic and social progress for each country and the region as a whole".