As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.

Through Srebrenica, they want to permanently mark Serbia

https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/686576/preko-srebrenice-zele-zauvek-da-zigosu-srbiju

In the public sphere of the Western Balkans and beyond, the events in Srebrenica in July 1995 remain one of the key topics of political and ideological debates. Although international law, through rulings of the International Court of Justice and the Hague Tribunal, has unequivocally qualified the mass killings of Bosniak men as genocide, certain political and media actors persistently dispute this verdict.

The news article on the Politika portal is a typical example of such discourse. It characterizes claims of genocide as a tool of Western pressure on Serbia, aimed at “disciplining” the state and its people. The authors and interviewees suggest that insisting on the recognition of genocide is part of a broader geopolitical strategy, portraying Serbs as a genocidal people to justify past Western actions and secure control over the region. Such narratives cast doubt on facts, shift the focus from the perpetrators’ responsibility to an alleged conspiracy by external actors, thereby denying the victims. These claims not only deepen ethnic tensions but also hinder reconciliation and regional stability, making them detrimental to democratic discourse and the culture of remembrance.

One of the central disinformation narratives in the Politika text is the claim that the West uses the story of genocide in Srebrenica as a political pressure instrument against Serbia. This framework presents Srebrenica not as a war crime confirmed by international rulings but as a “construction” by Western centers of power, aimed at disciplining Serbia, weakening Republika Srpska, and permanently marking the Serbian people as “genocidal.” This rhetoric has two main effects: it denies final court decisions and the perpetrators’ responsibility, while simultaneously redirecting attention to external forces, creating a sense of collective victimhood.

In regime-aligned and pro-Russian media, this narrative fits into a broader matrix of anti-Western discourse. Srebrenica is presented as a political weapon rather than a matter of justice and reconciliation, thereby relativizing the severity of the crime and denying the victims’ status. In this way, respect for international law is suppressed and the importance of reconciliation processes diminished, while the public is mobilized through the portrayal of Serbia as a permanent target of Western pressure.

This discourse is connected to other sensitive topics – Kosovo and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina – creating a narrative of ongoing injustice against Serbs. Thus, the issue of genocide is instrumentalized to maintain political control and strengthen authoritarian structures. Instead of acknowledging responsibility and building a culture of remembrance, an image of Serbia as a geopolitical victim is propagated, while the West is portrayed as the aggressor and manipulator.

False news denying the genocide in Srebrenica and shifting responsibility to the West are not merely historical revisionism but part of a broader political strategy. These narratives serve to preserve internal political stability by uniting the public around the image of Serbia as an eternal victim of an external enemy. This hinders the reconciliation process, suppresses respect for international law, and deepens ethnic divisions in the region. Such propaganda destabilizes democracy in the long term and blocks confronting the past, leaving space for the repetition of conflicts.