It is the position of the European Union that genocide was committed in Srebrenica and the bloc strongly rejects any attempt to re-write history, European Commission spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen said on June 4 in response to a statement by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic that genocide did not happen in the Bosnian town.

The atrocities in Srebrenica in July 1995 were a crime against the entire human race, the spokeswoman said, and we must never forget that and never let it happen again.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is scheduled to meet with Nikolic on June 14, and many questions will be on the agenda, including the very important one of reconciliation in the region, Ahrenkilde-Hansen said.

European Union High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton commented on Nikolic's statement that responsible politicians should be committed to the spirit of cooperation and conciliation in the region and apply responsible, clear and unambiguous rhetoric.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe official Pietro Marcenaro voiced concern over Nikolic's stance on the genocide in Srebrenica, stating that by denying it, Nikolic had cast a shadow on his presidential office and that admitting accountability on all sides was a condition for reconciliation.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on June 4 that the legal judgment on Srebrenica had been up to the Hague tribunal, and that the international court had already pronounced it.

"As far as I'm concerned, with all due respect to the media, I wouldn't rely on media reports of the statements by the newly elected Serbian president," Rasmussen added, stressing that he hoped that NATO could continue the good dialog it had had with Serbia to date.

Nikolic: There was no genocide in Srebrenica
"There was no genocide In Srebrenica. A great crime was committed by some members of the Serb people, and they need to be found, brought to trial and punished," said newly elected President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic for the Montenegrin Television.

Asked whether he would accept an invitation of Mufti Muamer Zukorlic to visit Srebrenica and condemn the genocide, Nikolic said that something like this probably would not happen, because his predecessor has already done it.

"If the President of Serbia Boris Tadic was in Srebrenica and condemned the crime, if the Serbian Parliament condemned the crime inSrebrenica, why would then bring back the question again,”  he said, adding that it is difficult to prove a genocide in court, Blic reports.