Each year, the European Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to a person or organization who fights for freedom of expression and respect for human rights. Together with my parliamentary group colleagues Delara Burkhard, Thijs Reuten and Andreas Schieder, we propose the „Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa“ for nomination.

The Srebrenica genocide in 1995 is the largest mass crime on European soil since the Second World War. Within days, 8,732 Bosniak men and boys were brutally murdered by Serb forces – despite the city being designated a „safe zone“ by the United Nations. Seven years later, Hatidza Mehmedovic, whose husband, two sons and two brothers were murdered, founded the Mothers of Srebrenica organization to help survivors. Today, the Mothers of Srebrenica keep alive the memory of the genocide to prevent such atrocities from happening again. In doing so, they provide a crucial antidote to the divisive, discriminatory rhetoric and secessionist movements of political actors.

Today we managed to get the proposal included on the list of three proposals that are now being negotiated with the other groups. The nomination of the Mothers of Srebrenica for the Sakharov Prize would send a clear signal of Bosnia’s unity and the country’s reconciliation and democratic progress.