Byzantine Blog

Republic of Srpska to Sue United Nations and Netherlands

Republic of Srpska [Serbian republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina] Premier Milorad Dodik announced the lawsuit against the United Nations and the government of Netherlands, because the Dutch battalion stationed in Srebrenica has done nothing during the war to protect the surrounding Serbian-populated villages from the slaughter by the Muslim troops under Naser Oric's command.

Shocked by the shameful verdict of the Hague tribunal, acquitting Srebrenica warlord Oric, Dodik said that various Bosnian Muslim associations sued the government of Netherlands and the UN court declared itself authorized to adjudicate in the case against the Dutch troops, which did not protect the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.

"Following the same principle, Republic of Srpska will, in the next few weeks, bring up the charges against Netherlands", Dodik announced on Friday.

"We Lost Trust in the International Institutions Long Time Ago"

He explained that Republic of Srpska will request the legal procedure because the Dutch contingent of the UN protection forces (UNPROFOR), stationed in Srebrenica, has failed to demilitarize Srebrenica, as mandated by the UN Security Council Resolution, and has allowed the commander of the Muslim troops in Srebrenica Naser Oric to carry out regular assaults from the protected zone, raiding the surrounding Serbian villages and slaughtering Serbian civilian population with his mujahedin troops for three years prior to Bosnian Serb Army taking the town over.

"Even the superficial observer is aware that there must be a command responsibility for the horrific atrocities committed by Naser Oric's troops. Tribunal has punished people who were not commanding the operations on the ground, like Biljana Plavsic [Republic of Srpska politician]. Unfortunately, tribunal did not see the need to punish Oric, who commanded the assaults against the villages surrounding Srebrenica, even though the international community was under obligation to demilitarize the so-called protected zone in and around Srebrenica," Dodik said.

He stressed that the exact dates and places where Oric was raiding the Serbian villages around Srebrenica are all well documented and that it is entirely incomprehensible that the Hague "did not have sufficient evidence" to determine the responsibility for the atrocities -- confirmed by the Hague tribunal itself -- committed by Oric's mujahedins.

"The foreigners would say that tribunal has the right to reach its own verdict, but we have learned quite a while back that we can't place any trust in the benevolence of the various international institutions. This is the case which proves it to the fullest. Apart from the lawsuit against the United Nations and Netherlands, we shall also determine the venues through which we can renew the process against Oric", Dodik said.

Republic of Srpska Won't be a Collateral Damage of Muslim/Croat Irresponsibility

A week earlier, when the reports surfaced that Muslim/Croat federation in Bosnia faces bankruptcy, with only 221 euros remaining on their bank account, Republic of Srpska prime minister said that his country will not become a "collateral damage" of the irresponsibly governed other half of the state.

The news about excessive spending and astoundingly frivolous behavior of the leading circles at the top of Bosnian Muslim/Croat federation, who even splurged 85,000 euros from the federation budget on a luxurious yacht for their vacations in the government resort of Trpanj in Croatia, all of which has led to bleeding the federation budget dry, was met with resignation in the Bosnian Serb Republic.

Premier Dodik said that there are 170 million of convertible Marks in the budget of Republic of Srpska (around 100 million euros), but much more if the moneys dedicated to the Republic of Srpska development fund are added to the sum.