Five years ago, Srebrenica genocide denial cost officials their jobs, today it earns a ministerial appointment
Five years ago, denying the Srebrenica genocide was a red line within the Montenegrin government. It is astonishing that today, on the eve of Montenegro's accession to the European Union (EU), a genocide denier is being appointed to the Government, with the support of minority parties, particularly the Bosniak Party, which had previously and rightly opposed such views -Executive Director of Human Rights Action (HRA) Tea Gorjanc Prelević told Antena M.
By a vote of 45 MPs, Jovan Jole Vučurović was appointed Minister without Portfolio in the government of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
The fact that some representatives of the Bosniak Party voted in favour of the former New Serbian Democracy MP would not have attracted particular attention had Vučurović not publicly denied the Srebrenica genocide nearly six years ago.
During the parliamentary debate on the formation of Zdravko Krivokapić's government, Vučurović stated that he did not recognize the events in Srebrenica as genocide, claiming instead that what occurred in July 1995 was „a crime“.
His remarks sparked widespread public and parliamentary criticism. Ervin Ibrahimović, now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and then also an MP, responded by saying that denying the genocide was „another form of genocide“.
According to Gorjanc Prelević, the current governing majority is displaying clear hypocrisy.
- There is no consensus even on the most fundamental values. At the very least, such a horrific crime should be called by its proper name and unequivocally condemned. Every member of a government with basic moral integrity should be capable of doing that - she said.
While denying the genocide now results in a ministerial appointment, five years ago similar statements led to dismissal from office.
In July 2021, then-Minister of Justice, Human and Minority Rights Vladimir Leposavić was dismissed by Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić after stating that he would be prepared to recognize the Srebrenica genocide only once it had been, in his words, „clearly and unequivocally established“.
At the time, Raško Konjević, acting on behalf of 40 opposition MPs, including members of the Bosniak Party, submitted an initiative seeking Leposavić's dismissal over what they described as his relativization of the Srebrenica genocide.
Prime Minister Krivokapić stated that Leposavić's remarks were inconsistent with the official positions of the Government.
Gorjanc Prelević said that Vučurović's appointment as minister demonstrates that personal political interests have taken precedence over the interests of society as a whole.
- Five years ago, denying the Srebrenica genocide was a red line within the Government. It is astonishing that today, as Montenegro moves toward EU membership, a genocide denier is being appointed to the Government, with the support of minority parties, particularly the Bosniak Party, which had previously and rightly opposed such a move - Gorjanc Prelević told Antena M.