[ Milorad ] We've got our territory, we've got our institutions,
and our people want independence
[ Gordana ] I'll never forgive
[ Gordana ] I just can't forgive them
[ Gordana ] I wouldn't even consider it
[ Gordana ] The Bosnians are forever my enemies
[ Gordana ] We didn't start this war
[ title ] SEEKING RECOGNITION. REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
[ voice ] You're listening to Republika Srpska Radio
[ voice ] It's 10 degrees in the capital
[ voice ] And now for the news
[ voice ] A special force squad has been practising an anti-terrorist operation…
[ Nedjo ] I joined the special forces out of love for my motherland
NEDJO KOVANOVIC, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA SPECIAL POLICE DEPARTMENT
[ Nedjo ] My father and uncle also served in uniform
[ Nedjo ] Our goal is to ensure the Serbian people can live peaceful and safe lives
[ voice ] And now, the weather…
[ voice ] In Sarajevo, we're expecting fog, with no precipitation
[ voice ] Daytime temperatures will range from -1° to +1°C
[ voice ] Night-time – between -3 and 0°C
[ Ranko ] That's where the frontline was
RANKO DRAGAS, FOUGHT IN 1992-1995 WAR
[ Ranko ] Their army was on that side, and ours was on this one
[ Ranko ] My son was 24 when he was killed
and I was 56 then
[ Gordana ] One night, 16 grenades came flying in. Not a single window in the house remained intact
[ Gordana ] I can't begin to describe the horror
[ Ranko ] My son and I fought shoulder to shoulder
[ Ranko ] It was a tough fight, but we didn't let the enemy get to this side
[ Gordana ] Some 29,000 Serbs perished during the war
[ Gordana ] No one knows the real number or wants to hear about it...
GORDANA DRAGAS, MOTHER OF DECEASED SOLDIER
like it was supposed to happen
[ Gordana ] Some people may even be...
happy that there are less of us Serbs on this planet now
[ Milorad ] Every Serbian family celebrates Krsna Slava
[ Milorad ] Rakia is specially brewed and saved for Slava on this holiday
[ Milorad ] Serbians take pride in having good rakia
[ Milorad ] To us, this is the most beautiful land in the world
[ Milorad ] That's why our people have taken up arms and fiercely defended it
MILORAD DODIK , JOINT PRESIDENT, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, FORMER PRESIDENT, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
[ voice ] You're listening to Republika Srpska Radio
[ voice ] It's time for some folk music...
[ Kusturica ] In the Balkans, we've always had the same problem
[ Kusturica ] That is, nations are formed based on religion,
EMIR KUSTURICA, FILM DIRECTOR
rather than the most important thing:
language
[ Kusturica ] The Serbian people's strength is we have things to preserve
[ Kusturica ] As we often say: 'We don't start wars to solve our problems,
but to solve problems we failed to resolve in the previous war'
[ voice ] Andricgrad spreads over more than 17,000 sqm
[ voice ] This historical town is undoubtedly Republika Srpska's cultural centre
[ Kusturica ] Ivo Andric, who this city is named after, wrote:
'Serbs look to Moscow,
[ Kusturica ] Muslims to Mecca, and Croatians to the Vatican
[ Kusturica ] My dream is to build a city for literate people,
for those who believe in the power of the enlightenment,
for those who believe in the idea that
literacy can become the basis for inter-ethnic dialogue'
[ Alija ] This kind of Yugoslavia is repulsive to the Yugoslavian people,
ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC, FORMER PRESIDENT, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
the Slovenians, Croatians, Macedonians, Albanians, Hungarians, and Bosnian Muslims
[ Alija ] So, the whole world finds it repulsive because of Karadzic
[ voice ] The international Tribunal on Yugoslavia
stated that 7,000-8,000 Bosnian Muslim men were murdered in Srebrenica…
[ voice ] I'm general Mladic, don't be afraid
[ voice ] Have a safe trip
[ voice ] In June of 1992, Banja Luka was under a blockade by Bosniak and Croat militias
[ Vesna ] Airplanes were ready to take off
and deliver much needed oxygen, but were never granted authorization
VESNA ECIM-ZLOJUTRO, HEAD OF GYNAECOLOGY DEPARTMENT, BANJA LUKA UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTRE
[ Zeljka ] I left my child here at 1:00
[ Zeljka ] At 7:30 in the evening, I got a call and was told my child had died
ZELJKA TUBIC, DECEASED BABY’S
due to a lack of oxygen
[ Vesna ] Can you wrap your head around it?
[ Vesna ] Someone forbade oxygen to be taken to babies that needed it to survive
[ Vesna ] They would have helped an animal,
so they should have helped people, regardless of nationality
[ Zeljka ] When soldiers go to war they get a chance to fight,
but a newborn who can't fight and is sick
is deprived of the chance to breathe, to take its first breaths
[ Zeljka ] And our children didn't even have that
[ voice ] Between 1992-93, the Western coalition
bombed Serbian sites with depleted uranium
[ Vidomir ] - Hello [ Lubore ] - Hello
[ Vidomir ] How are you?
[ Lubore ] I'm good, thank God
[ Vidomir ] How's the hospital? How are they treating you?
[ Lubore ] I'm struggling with the treatment
[ Lubore ] All my comrades, everyone I was fighting in the war with, everyone got sick
LUBORE ZELJKO, FOUGHT IN 1992-1995 WAR
[ Lubore ] Remember how healthy I was?
[ Vidomir ] It's a very sad picture, but what can a man do? We need to keep fighting
[ Vidomir ] One thing that's been proven as an indisputable fact
is that NATO aircraft dropped three tonnes of depleted uranium on Bosnia
VIDOMIR BANDUKA, ACTIVIST, SERBIAN REFUGEES ASSOCIATION
[ Vidomir ] The West doesn't deny this, but say it was tested on their own soldiers
with no ill effects
[ Alija ] Last year, people were shocked to hear what I said...
ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC, FORMER PRESIDENT, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
[ Alija ] They expected to hear: 'You're all full citizens with full rights'
[ Alija ] But you get only the rights you can take
[ Darko ] Republika Srpska only exists because 30,000 Serbians paid for it with their lives
[ Darko ] Father did his job bravely, like a pro
[ Darko ] The people see him as a hero
[ Darko ] And now he's in prison reflecting on what else he could've done
DARKO MLADIC, RATKO MLADIC’S SON
[ Darko ] What he could have done, but didn't do
[ Darko ] There are nearly no Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina outside the RS now
[ Milorad ] The West wants to create a nonexistent nation out of Bosnia-Herzegovina
MILORAD DODIK, JOINT PRESIDENT, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, FORMER PRESIDENT, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
[ Milorad ] That's how the liberal world sees it: to unite something ununitable
[ Milorad ] I've been thinking about it, and I know this for sure:
Bosnia-Herzegovina is a testing ground
where third-rate Western officials come to learn how to run flashpoints like these
[ Milorad ] They come here to study
[ voice ] There's an exclusion zone in eastern Sarajevo with no public transport
[ Gordana ] I don't want to see anything there
[ Gordana ] I'm not interested
[ Gordana ] That's how it's going to be as long as I live
GORDANA DRAGAS, MOTHER OF DECEASED SOLDIER
[ Gordana ] This city doesn't exist for me now
[ voice ] On April 3, 2000, special NATO peacekeeping forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina
carried out an operation to arrest the speaker of the People's Assembly of Republika Srpska,
Momcilo Krajisnik
[ Momcilo ] At that moment, everything disappears, you feel like you no longer exist
[ Momcilo ] It was stressful and humiliating, even though they had no grounds to arrest me
MOMCILO KRAJISNIK, FORMER SPEAKER, PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA (OCTOBER 1991-NOVEMBER 1995)
[ Momcilo ] Now I know the exact name of the American official who ordered my arrest
[ Momcilo ] The tribunal has three types of defence:
one of them is powerlessness,
another is ignorance,
the 3rd is lies. There's no way to tell which is worse
[ Momcilo ] Hypocrisy is unknown to us,
but this is hypocrisy brought to perfection
[ Momcilo ] When I got out of prison,
I made a list of the people
who had sinned against me
[ Momcilo ] It was a long list
[ Momcilo ] As a human being, it's natural to think about revenge
especially considering that I was about to be freed
[ Momcilo ] But on release, I realised I'd have to spend my whole life seeking vengeance,
so I forgave them all
[ Momcilo ] It's like I've had 2 lives. I must do everything faster now,
but I don't blame anyone. I'm completely happy
[ Milorad ] Bosnia-Herzegovina hasn't imposed sanctions on Russia, so we're the 'bad guys' again
[ Milorad ] We're all pro-Russian here,
MILORAD DODIK, JOINT PRESIDENT, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, FORMER PRESIDENT, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
and, in their book, you're only considered good
if everything you do is directed against Russia
[ Milorad ] If you don't tow this line, they instantly say you're pro-Russian and dangerous,
that you're creating paramilitary forces. It's stupid
[ voice ] And now we continue our folk music concert
[ voice ] Have a nice day!
[ Momcilo ] A day will come when Republika Srpska secedes from Bosnia-Herzegovina
[ Momcilo ] Whether it joins Serbia or remains independent is of no importance, it's just a technicality
[ Milorad ] We've learned an important lesson:
if we have no state of our own,
we'll have no freedom