"RS already apologized, but others did not"

Source: Tanjug

VIENNA -- Serb Republic (RS) President Milorad Dodik said in an interview for the Vienna-based daily Der Standard that RS already apologized for Srebrenica.

However, said Dodik, "others" are yet to apologize for crimes committed against Serbs.

Asked if RS will send someone to attend this year's commemoration in Potočari near Srebrenica, Dodik said that a few years ago the then RS President Dragan Čavić was there and apologized in public on the behalf of the RS for the crimes.

"Representatives of our government go there each year. However, we do not think we should apologize every time we go there, because we have still not heard an apology from the other side," he added.

Dodik said it is "quite clear" that what happened in Srebrenica should have been avoided and that the "people involved in such crimes are no heroes, but can only be treated as criminals."

Commenting on the Serb entity's decision to offer EUR 50,000 for the defense of Hague indictee Ratko Mladić, Dodik said that just like Croatia helped the defense of its Hague indictees, the RS also has an obligation to assist its citizens in the The Hague Tribunal.

This does not mean that the RS wants to protect anyone who is involved in crimes, Dodik underlined.