Serbia's War Crimes Narrative Under Scrutiny as 2025 Report Highlights Ongoing Denial

The Initiative of Young for Human Rights released a report titled “Stanje poricanja – Srbija 2025: Ratni zločinci kao zaslužni građani”. The study documents at least 110 instances in 2025 where Serbian authorities denied or relativised war crimes from the 1990s, including 46 parliamentary statements that downplayed convicted perpetrators.

Director Sofija Todorić said public discourse “mostly talks about one ethnic group of victims – people of Serbian nationality – while others are barely mentioned, and when they are, their suffering is relativised or denied.” The report also notes frequent denial of the Srebrenica genocide, with officials framing related resolutions as hostile toward Serbia despite their commemorative purpose.

Activist Staša Zajović warned that former war ideologues have returned, erasing evidence of their crimes and transferring 1990s patterns of violence into domestic politics. Both speakers argue that this selective memory deepens societal trauma, fuels hatred, and endangers younger generations.