Following any war, there are always those who will downplay its severity and any harm done during its course. Following any slaughter, there are always those who will deny the existence of any victims at all, as if once were not enough. Under these conditions, especially in the case of a civil dispute, reconciliation and rebuilding on several levels becomes practically impossible. As long as people reject reaching out to and understanding one another, there cannot be lasting peace.
For the Balkans, their years of tension may once again flare as the newly elected Serbian president denies that the events at Srebrenica were genocide. While he concedes to "grave war crimes" being committed, this fun, political game of semantics does little to comfort the victims and survivors of Srebrenica, nor those of the war at large. This very act of downplaying what happened there by the entire international community is what allowed the conflict to persist for so very long.
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