The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned last night’s attack on a group of high school students from Novi Sad who are in Sarajevo as part of a student exchange programme.
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Strong condemnation of attack on Novi Sad high school students in Sarajevo
Belgrade,
29 March 2025
According to eyewitness accounts, the attack was undoubtedly ethnically motivated, as the assailants insulted the victims on a national basis.
The Serbian consul in Sarajevo visited the seriously injured students from Novi Sad, offering them and their parents legal and all other necessary assistance.
We expect all attackers to be identified, brought to justice and punished with the utmost severity to send a clear message to all radical elements in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
We are particularly concerned by the fact that the attack does not appear to have been spontaneous but rather a planned lynching, as the perpetrators were masked and armed with batons.
Such an outburst of interethnic hatred is not surprising given the heightened political tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the aggressive rhetoric of certain politicians in the country towards Serbia and the Serbian people.
There is no doubt that responsibility for this attack also lies with those who incited it – the political extremists in BiH – as they have created a social climate in which such distressing events are possible.
The attack on students from Novi Sad confirms that when hatred spills into the public sphere, it rarely remains merely verbal but tends to escalate into physical aggression and violence.
It is therefore essential that political communication between Serbia and BiH be restored to a normal and civilised framework and that any disputes be resolved in a spirit of good-neighbourly cooperation, without harsh words or reckless statements, the statement notes.
Author:
mfa.gov.rs
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