MAZALICA: RESOLUTION DRAFTED BY EXPERTS AIMED AT COMBATING GROWING EVIL

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 17 /SRNA/ – The head of the SNSD Caucus in the Republika Srpska National Assembly, Srđan Mazalica, says the resolution condemning and banning the promotion and glorification of the ideology and symbols of the NDH, as well as Ustasha, Nazi, and fascist ideologies and symbols, was drafted by top experts and contains key facts, positions, and measures through which Republika Srpska will fight this growing evil.

Mazalica noted that the genocide against Serbs committed in the NDH represents a collective trauma difficult to erase, but one that must be lived with, not in hatred, but in an effort to ensure that such things never happen again.

"Such an experience is one of the key reasons for the establishment of Republika Srpska. Alongside all international documents, we must build continuity of collective memory, emphasize the justification for its existence, and preserve its institutions and sovereignty," Mazalica said in his introductory remarks at the National Assembly session, explaining the resolution proposed by SNSD.

He emphasized that this is not only a resolution of condemnation, but also of prohibition.

"We do not want to merely condemn and stop there. Since this is one of the most important issues for our people, especially in Republika Srpska, we have gone a step further and will ban everything associated with ideologies that have inflicted the greatest evil on our people in history," Mazalica said.

Speaking about the resolution proposed by SDS, Mazalica pointed out that the very title contains a major substantive error - it condemns only the glorification of the Ustasha ideology.

"What about the ideology of the NDH in general and why would we reduce it to just one of its parts? What about other ideas, ideologies, and symbols of a Nazi and fascist character? The same mistake is repeated in the first article of the proposed resolution," Mazalica noted.

He added that Serbs were the primary victims of genocide in the NDH and that this fact must not be diminished.

"Throughout the entire NDH territory, there was an organised policy, implemented through laws, to eliminate two million Serbs who lived there at the time," Mazalica said.

He believes it is necessary to stop using the phrase "victims of fascist terror," as it serves to obscure the fact that, in certain places, people were killed solely because they were Serbs.