Yasin Güngör
23 September 2026•Update: 23 September 2026
The chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina warned the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the international community has failed to respond adequately to the genocide committed against Palestinians in Gaza.
Addressing world leaders in New York during the 81st session of the assembly, Denis Becirovic stressed that nations cannot remain passive in the face of widespread injustice, drawing direct parallels between modern conflicts and the atrocities inflicted upon his own country during the 1990s.
The Bosnian leader emphasized that rising authoritarian populism, the war in Ukraine, suffering in Gaza, regional warfare in the Gulf and the catastrophic situation in Sudan have pushed humanity into a profound crisis defined by fear and instability.
Becirovic recalled that between 1992 and 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina endured widespread aggression, crimes against humanity and genocide against Bosniaks. He highlighted that the highest international judicial bodies formally determined that genocide occurred on Bosnian soil, making it the only country in Europe to experience genocide following World War II.
Turning to historical accountability, Becirovic noted that the late convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," represents a perpetrator rather than a heroic figure, adding that institutional efforts to glorify such individuals remain unacceptable and contrary to civilization.
Mladic received a life sentence from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017 for genocide and war crimes, serving his prison term in The Hague until his death in August this year.
Becirovic called on global actors to implement concrete measures against those who systematically honor convicted war criminals at official levels.
