Russian war crimes reminded world of genocide in Srebrenica - European Commission

EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said this in a statement on the 27th anniversary of the genocide of Srebrenica, where thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed, Ukrinform reports.

"We honor for the 27th year the memory of all victims and of all those still missing of the genocide of Srebrenica. We stand together, in grief, with their relatives and friends who survived the genocide. However, still today we cannot take peace for granted. Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine has brought back a brutal war to our continent. The mass killings and war crimes we see in Ukraine bring back vivid memories of those witnessed in the war in the Western Balkans in the 1990s," the statement said.

It added that under these conditions, "it is more than ever our duty to remember the genocide of Srebrenica, as part of our common European history."

Borrell and Várhelyi stressed in a joint statement that "as we see the security and stability of Europe and the international rules-based order profoundly shaken, we are reminded of the need to stand up to defend peace, human dignity and universal values."

"Europe has not forgotten what happened in Srebrenica and our own responsibility for not being able to prevent and to stop the genocide. In Srebrenica, Europe failed and we are faced with our shame," the statement said.