Why does the Jasenovac Resolution cause division, while the Srebrenica Resolution unites the Western Balkans?

While the UN General Assembly's Srebrenica Resolution has united the region, the Resolution on the genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen concentration camp systems, passed by the Montenegrin Assembly last week, has caused sharp divisions in the Western Balkans in just a few days. According to the interlocutors of Kosovo Online, this fact clearly indicates that in this part of Europe, history and dealing with the past remain key political issues.

Written by: Arsenije Vuckovic

"This proposal we have made is not directed against anyone, except against human evil, and its purpose is not to judge but to bring closer and better understand the realization that evil is indeed evil, regardless of who committed it, which side, people, or politics, and it is not a demand to correct historical injustices. There is no justice for the victims without the right to remembrance," stated the President of the Montenegrin Assembly, Andrija Mandic, in his explanation of the resolution.

Just a few hours after it was adopted, a "stampede" followed, a diplomatic "war of statements" between official Podgorica and Zagreb.

"The adoption of the Resolution is unacceptable, inappropriate, and unnecessary, as it does not aim at reconciliation but at the abuse of the memory of the victims for the political goals of the initiators of the document," stated the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Colleagues from Montenegro immediately responded with a "counter-statement," expressing regret that Croatia perceives the condemnation of crimes and respect for the victims and their families as "an attack on the good neighborly relations between the two countries."

Croatian MP Miro Bulj proposed that all Montenegrin MPs who voted for this document be declared persona non grata in Croatia.

"If there had been luck, Croatia would have adopted a Resolution on Jasenovac," replied Montenegrin Assembly MP Milan Knezevic.

He said that Bulj's proposal shows that there are political, state, and institutional structures in Croatia that deny the genocide in Jasenovac, and that "as a region and as Europe, we are facing shameless attempts at historical revisionism."

"And one of the most monstrous attempts at historical revisionism is the relativization of what happened in Jasenovac from 1941 to 1945, which is genocide," Knezevic said.

Current Vice President of the Croatian Parliament and President of the Homeland Movement Ivan Penava stated late last year that anyone bothered by the letter "U" or the chant "For the Homeland, Ready"—Ustasha symbols from World War II—should not attend the Vukovar Remembrance Day.

After the adoption of the Jasenovac Resolution, Penava accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of being responsible for it.

"For them, it is a shame that, as they think, small Montenegro does something; of course, Vucic has to be the culprit, just as Sarajevo cannot blame Banja Luka because they are strong and big, so Vucic has to be the culprit," Vucic briefly responded to accusations from the region that he initiated the adoption of the Jasenovac resolution.

The Adoption of the Resolution on Crimes in Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen Has Become a European Problem

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, canceled his official visit to Podgorica because of it.

"I have no doubt that the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, postponed his visit to Montenegro due to recent developments related to the motives and circumstances of the adoption of the Jasenovac Resolution," admitted President Jakov Milatovic.

After that, he told politicians in Montenegro that they need to get serious.

"You have seen the reactions of official Zagreb. I think we need to take these reactions seriously. Good neighborly relations are an important element of Montenegro's foreign policy priorities, and from the position of the president, I will do everything to maintain the good neighborly relations we have had with all our neighbors in the previous period, but also to genuinely intensify Montenegro's path towards the European Union, without the excursions we have seen in the previous period. I call on all political actors to act responsibly and seriously," said Milatovic.

Motives and Consequences

Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Milos Besic, stated in an interview with "Vesti" that the Jasenovac Resolution will not contribute to regional stability and that the consequences for Montenegro due to its adoption will largely depend on the assessment of the leading EU countries.

"The resolution will certainly damage relations between Croatia and Montenegro. We will see to what extent, depending also on other factors, primarily thinking of other European countries," Besic believes.

He emphasizes that the motive for adopting the resolution was to mitigate the effects of the Srebrenica Resolution adopted by the UN Security Council, and that Montenegro softened the effects of its resolution, with the consent of Austria and Germany, by including the Dachau and Mauthausen camps.

"The actual motive behind the resolution was to mitigate the effects of the Srebrenica resolution, which happened against the will and desire of Montenegro. There was pressure from the Serbian factor and Serbian actors within the party structure in Montenegro, primarily parties that support the ruling party, to adopt such a resolution. The ruling party, the Europe Now Movement, responded by accommodating that," says Besic.

He adds that the effects of adopting the resolution are already visible through Croatia's protest note and the cancellation of Charles Michel's visit to Podgorica.

"This resolution is already causing problems, and we will see what the ultimate consequences will be. They will mostly depend on the key EU countries that will either mitigate or not mitigate the negative effects of this resolution," emphasizes the professor.

When asked whether this resolution will open another issue in the region, Besic says it is just part of "all the issues" in the Western Balkans.

"This issue is part of all the issues, or the issue of all issues, that we have in different variations, and it is simply called nationalism in the Balkans. All the former Yugoslav states are markedly nationalist-oriented. Montenegro was partially exempt from this, considering the many years of DPS rule, which tried to distance itself from the Serbian national factor. Of course, this was neither possible nor successful because the Serbian factor is very strong in Montenegro," concludes Besic.

Demystifying Hypocrisy

Historian Bogdan Zivkovic assesses that reactions in the region, as well as within the EU, to the Montenegrin Resolution on Jasenovac have actually exposed the hypocrisy of interpreting the adoption of an almost identical document on Srebrenica at the UN.

"Regional power centers convinced the Serbian public when the Srebrenica resolution was adopted that it did not imply collective responsibility. But now, with the adoption of the Resolution on Genocide in Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen, which is very similar in text to the Srebrenica Resolution and states that there is no collective guilt, Croats now feel collectively guilty. This shows that all those justifications for the Srebrenica genocide resolution were hypocritical. So, indeed, such resolutions imply collective guilt," Zivkovic tells Kosovo Online.

He explains that the other key regional significance of the Montenegrin resolution is that it shatters the Western myth of the collective guilt of Serbs and the narrative of Serbs as the exclusive perpetrators of crimes in the Balkans.

"I think this resolution is significant at a regional level because it breaks the narrative of Serbs as the sole perpetrators in all traumatic parts of the Balkans' past and shows that Serbs were victims, sometimes much greater victims than other nations. In that sense, I think it is very fruitful and somehow demystifies everything we have been hearing about during the UN vote," Zivkovic emphasizes.

He adds that the Jasenovac Resolution has a specific "daily-political context" and is the result of political bargaining within Montenegro.

"The Resolution on Genocide in Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen was created in a specific daily-political context. It is a response to Montenegro's decision to vote for the Srebrenica genocide resolution at the UN. Since the government of Milojko Spajic depends on Serbian parties, as well as on Serbs in Montenegro, Spajic felt the need to make a counter-concession to the Serbs in Montenegro by adopting this resolution to cover the fact that he voted for the Srebrenica genocide resolution. In this sense, one could say it is a simple political trade-off. And in a way, it is. It is Spajic's attempt to calm those contradictory aspirations. On one hand, the need to gain support from the US, and on the other, the need to have the support of Serbs in Montenegro on whom his power depends. Although this is somewhat a daily-political trade-off, I would not diminish its significance," Zivkovic concludes.

He notes that the adoption can also be interpreted as a success of Andrija Mandic's policy for Serbs in Montenegro to participate in governance.

"This will mean many compromises, many painful compromises, such as the Srebrenica Resolution, but it will also mean that, with this resolution, the voice of Serbs can still be heard in the region and in Montenegro. In this regard, of course, the scope of this resolution depends on how long the Serbs remain in power. If one day Serbs are no longer in power in Montenegro, this resolution will be forgotten. But as long as they are in power, it means that the suffering of Serbs will be spoken about in Montenegro, and the negative myth of Serbs as the exclusive culprits for all the wartime and tragic history of the Balkans will be shattered," Zivkovic believes.

When asked if the resolution will lead to new divisions in the Western Balkans, this historian says that "the region is always divided when the established equilibrium is disrupted."

"When someone tries to break that narrative, of course, and when the status quo in the region is disrupted, when Serbs in some way raise their heads and speak about Serbian national interests and rights, that equilibrium is broken," Zivkovic points out.

He is also convinced that further reactions from Croatia will solely depend on decisions within the EU.

"Croatia alone, without broader support, will not be able to do more. Certainly, in the short term, this will negatively impact the relations between Croatia and Montenegro, but we will see in the long term how successful Croatia will be. Therefore, its main leverage in relations with Montenegro is that European path. I really doubt that if there is a readiness in Brussels to admit Montenegro into the EU, Croatia will be able to block it. So, I wouldn't dramatize the significance of this resolution in Croatia-Montenegro relations," Zivkovic concludes.

Compromise and Relativization

Milan Gulic, a research associate at the Institute of Contemporary History, assesses that the Montenegrin Resolution on Jasenovac is a result of compromise and an "unfinished document" that is vague in key aspects and relativizes the crimes committed in the NDH (Independent State of Croatia), and unnecessarily equates it with Srebrenica.

"That resolution, although we can say it has good intentions, is quite unfinished. In those compromises, many things were skipped. First, it practically equates Jasenovac and Srebrenica, which in no way can be compared. Second, the resolution consistently avoids mentioning the Independent State of Croatia and extracts Jasenovac as a specific case. Jasenovac was not a specific case; it was part of a systematic state policy of crimes and genocide and was just one of the camps in a complex of about 30 camps that existed in the NDH, and just one part of the genocidal policy that the Ustasha regime in Zagreb was implementing at that time," Gulic told Kosovo Online.

He believes the point of the resolution was missed.

"In that sense, the resolution represents an unfinished document. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Dachau and Mauthausen camps is, in some sense, a relativization of the scale of the crimes in Jasenovac. Because, regardless of the fact that people from this region suffered in those camps, those camps cannot be put on the same level as Jasenovac. So, in that sense, due to so many compromises, it ultimately led to considerable turmoil both within Montenegro and in regional relations, and it simply sends the message that the policy of compromise and retreat cannot always be conducted in such a way," Gulic believes.

He adds that this resolution is primarily intended for internal use in Montenegro.

"It is primarily intended for internal use. It should preserve the ruling coalition from the perspective of the Serbian or pro-Serbian parties that took a serious hit when Montenegro voted for the adoption of the Srebrenica resolution in the UN General Assembly. Therefore, this resolution should primarily be viewed in the context of political relations in Montenegro. However, things that are matters of internal relations in one state often reflect on international relations, and this happened this time as well," Gulic emphasizes.

History and Politics

How is this issue viewed in the region?

University professor Cane Mojanoski from Skopje states in an interview with Kosovo Online that the recently adopted Jasenovac resolution in the Montenegrin Assembly should be interpreted through the broader picture in which Balkan countries have constantly been returning to the past since the fall of the Berlin Wall, with the history of the last 100 years being a favorite topic for politicians.

"In the Balkans over the last 100 years, maybe even longer, history has been a favorite topic for many political and state structures. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the redefinition of geostrategic positions agreed upon in 1944, there has been a need for independent Balkan states to constantly return to the past. The past is used as a good opportunity to open certain issues as much as possible to address their own public, regardless of the discomfort and unease it may cause neighbors who, for whatever reason, feel affected," Mojanoski says.

He adds that the redefinition of events from World War II has also contributed to this, with historical events being reused and instrumentalized for political purposes.

"In the political agendas of many state and party leaders in the Balkans, the culture of memory has been instrumentalized for political or party purposes. In this context, we can consider that this resolution is more intended for the ruling structures in Montenegro than for the interests of the state itself," Mojanoski emphasizes.

He does not exclude the possibility that the resolution is a "message" to the electorate in Montenegro, but also a response to the Srebrenica Resolution.

"It should be noted that the Resolution can be seen as an attempt to relativize the UN Resolution on Srebrenica, which is also in the interest of one of the Balkan peoples. In that sense, the reactions of the Croatian state or Croatian structures should probably be viewed as a way to point out the unnecessary current relevance of this issue," Mojanoski says.

Asked whether this resolution will further deteriorate relations in the region, he jokingly responds that it has always been possible, even with a song.

"In the Balkans, if you sing a song, it will be enough to open some of the issues related to the creation of large states, leading to nationalist and various other interpretations of history and the position of groups or individuals in the Balkans," Mojanoski explains.

He concludes that North Macedonia, which has good relations with all the countries of the Western Balkans, should insist that historical events not be used to further worsen or disrupt relations in the region.

"Such a reaction can only serve as additional motivation for those inspired to push the Balkans into a powder keg position and intensify those activities. Let us hope that North Macedonia, in this context, will follow its own goals and interests and support efforts that lead to mutual understanding and respect in the Balkans and among its neighbors," emphasizes Mojanoski.