Outrage at medals for Dutch in Srebrenica - by Marcus Tanner
The Bosnian Presidency has lodged an official protest with the Netherlands after members of the Dutch battalion that failed to protect the "safe haven" of Srebrenica were decorated by their government.
The Defence Minister, Henk Kamp, pinned insignia on some of the 850 members of the ill-fated battalion headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Karremans. Accusations of responsibility for Europe's worst massacre since the Second World War, when Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in July 1995, led to the fall of the Dutch government in 2002.
Yesterday, in Sarajevo, a representative of the Mothers of Srebrenica condemned the Dutch government's awards to the soldiers, some now out of the army. "Something the entire world would be ashamed of, the Dutch reward it," said Kada Hotic. "This is for the Hall of Shame." Comment EU-Digest: this award ceremony showed very poor PR by the Dutch Government
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