EU acknowledges 'shameful failure' in Srebrenica
European Union foreign policy representative Javier Solana today acknowledged that the massacre in Srebrenica 10 years ago represented a “shameful failure” by the international community.
Nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered in Srebrenica after Bosnian Serb forces overran the town, which was designated a “safe area” by the United Nations and guarded by Dutch UN troops. The massacre was Europe’s worst since the Second World War.
“The victims had put their trust in international protection,” Solana said in a statement. “But we, the international community, let them down. This was a colossal, collective and shameful failure.”
He said the EU had learned a “terrible lesson” and that the massacre was partly a consequence of the absence of a “strong and united Europe.” In the statement Solana declared a more united EU foreign policy had been forged, together with the will to send troops to back up their resolve.
The EU sent troops to Bosnia last year, replacing Nato peacekeepers.
