Toespraak van premier Leterme van België bij de herdenking van de volkerenmoord in Srebrenica (en)

Hieronder vindt u een transcriptie van de toespraak:

"Only the dead have seen the end of war". The Greek philosopher Plato wrote those ominous words 2500 years ago. Today, these words, unfortunately, still apply.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war". We are here today, to reflect on that tragic truth. We are here to commemorate, not a day, but an event, a tragic event, the genocidal slaughter of thousands of men and boys, whose only so called “crime” was what they were and who they were.

What can we say when we commemorate this tragedy? What can we say to the grieving men and women who lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother, a cousin, a dear friend?

First, I want to say, to those who lost a loved one, that we feel for your loss. These are not empty words.

Nobody can take the burden of grief from your shoulders, from your heart. But I do hope it can be some consolation to know that you are not alone, that we feel with you and for you.

Secondly, I want to say to all of you that we remember, and that we must remember, always. We must remember, not in a spirit of vengeance, but in a spirit of humanity and of justice.

It is intolerable that they were slaughtered solely because of their origins, because of their faith, because of their belonging to a particular community. This kind of nationalism, of intolerance, of refusal to live with other communities, can never be accepted nor condoned. As long as these will exist, as long as we will tolerate those aberrations, it will indeed be true that, as Plato said, "only the dead have seen the end of war".

We remember in a spirit of humanity, we also must remember in a spirit of justice. The courts cannot bring back the dead. But human justice can bring balm to the wounds, can ease the feelings of helplessness and rage, can allow for a mourning process.

For this reason, and of course for the sake of a civilised form of society, the perpetrators should face justice. It is a good thing that the political leaders and military commanders most responsible for the killings have faced, or are in the process of facing, an international court of justice. But it is unacceptable that the commander most responsible for the slaughter, Ratko Mladic, is still at large. His place is not in a hideout, but in The Hague.

So the third reason to remember, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that we must at last learn from the past, that we must learn how to live in peace. We are doing this in Europe, where NATO and the European Union have spread stability and peace to almost a whole continent. That they could not prevent the massacre in this city is however an indelible blot on their record.

I am glad to see that this third lesson is also being learned in this region. I wholeheartedly welcome the historic declaration in which the Serbian Parliament in March unambiguously condemned the massacre. President Tadic, whose presence in Srebrenica I salute, said: “The declaration is a product of my country’s absolute dedication to restore trust and promote friendship and understanding between two proud nations in our region and, more broadly, two great religious traditions present throughout our increasingly interdependent world.”

It is well known that the vast majority of the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina, irrespective of their ethnic affiliation, are in favour of the integration of their country in the European Union. They rightly believe that decisive advances in this process are the best way to foster peace, stability, reconciliation, development and prosperity.

As the Prime Minister of the country that holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and on behalf of the High Representative, Mrs. Catherine Ashton i, I want to assure you that in this endeavour the authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina will find strong encouragement and support in the European Union. For our common endeavour is that, at last, not the dead but the living may have seen the end of war.