CALL FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO CONDEMN USTASHA CRIMES

BELGRADE, APRIL 29 /SRNA/ – Political analyst Stevica Deđanski told SRNA that an exhibition about the Ustasha concentration camp Jasenovac, with the contribution of Republika Srpska, being presented for the first time in the European Parliament is a very positive step, assessing that this EU institution should be asked to clearly distance itself from Ustasha crimes.

"In this whole matter, we should take a step further and request that the European Parliament and its representatives condemn Ustasha crimes in order to show what the Croats are like, because they will never do it themselves," Deđanski said.

He stated that it is shameful that Jasenovac had previously been rarely discussed, but that this has changed since Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić came to power and through good cooperation with President Milorad Dodik, especially by Serbia and Republika Srpska jointly commemorating historical dates that testify to the suffering of the Serb people.

"This is extremely important in order to break the narrative that exists, in which `Serbs are criminals and everyone else is good,`" Deđanski emphasized.

He said that the best way to challenge such narratives is through historical examples, adding that there is no greater criminal enterprise than Jasenovac, which was even worse than Auschwitz.

"In Auschwitz, people were killed in the same way, they suffocated, but here Serbs, Serb children, were subjected to knives. That does not exist anywhere else in world history," Deđanski said.

According to him, if such acts are truly not Brussels values, then it should be condemned, while the exhibition on Jasenovac in the European Parliament is a good step.

"As for the reactions of Croat members of the European Parliament, they complain about everything anyway. Soon they might even claim that Jasenovac was a `Serb camp, where the Croats were killed!?` Nothing from Croats surprises me anymore," Deđanski added.

Regarding the possibility that, after this exhibition, Jasenovac might finally take its place in European culture of remembrance, Deđanski said he considers that unlikely under the current balance of power in Brussels.

"First, there must be a victory of the true victors of World War II and genuinely freedom-oriented leaders and states for it to be recognised as a crime against humanity. I think we are on that path, but at this moment, not yet," he said.

Deđanski stressed that, in the meantime, the Serb people must not stand still and wait for change, but should continuously present what happened in Jasenovac and seek allies worldwide who can help spread the truth.

He added that Israel is foremost among such partners, given the good cooperation with Serbia and Republika Srpska, but that relations should also be nurtured with countries and parties that show respect for Serb victims and speak the truth.

"We are not asking them to speak on our behalf, but to speak the truth. That is why we have an advantage over others. As for the fact that on the other side we have successors of Nazis… that too will pass," Deđanski said.

At the heart of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the exhibition "Jasenovac, Remembrance and Warning," prepared by the archives of Republika Srpska and Vojvodina, has been opened.

Authentic archival documents, photographs, and testimonies of survivors from this Ustasha concentration camp are presented.