The Republic of Srpska emerged as a defensive reflex intended to ensure that the Serbian people would not again experience a genocide like the one it had survived between 1941 and 1945 in the pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia. This is also visible in its founding documents: the Declaration of the Assembly of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina of 24 October 1991, the Declaration on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serbian People of Bosnia and Herzegovina of 9 January 1992, and the first Constitution of the Republic of Srpska of 28 February 1992. We are therefore speaking of a highly significant element of collective memory.
The institutional framework of the Republic of Srpska has an obligation – in accordance with contemporary theoretical approaches and management of policies of remembrance within the field of public policy, as one of the most significant resources of every community – to demonstrate society’s responsibility toward this issue. In accordance with the foregoing, the highest legislative body of the Republic of Srpska adopted several documents in the previous period: the Declaration on the Genocide Committed by the Independent State of Croatia against Serbs, Jews, and Roma during the Second World War, of 22 October 2015, and the Conclusions regarding the consideration of the Information on the “Resolution on Respect for the Victims of the Fascist Regime and Movements” of 1 June 2020.
In connection with current developments, as well as the evident need for the theoretical premises of this matter to be determined and defined unambiguously and precisely in accordance with international scholarly achievements and standards, the Center for Socio-Political Research of the Republic of Srpska, as an institution competent for both culture of remembrance and its related policies, launched an initiative and, together with other professional and scientific institutions of the Republic of Srpska, participated in the adoption of a new strategic document in the field of policy of remembrance concerning the victims of the Genocide against Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia. Through the collective and expert work of historians, jurists, political scientists, and other specialists and representatives of the academic and professional community — including three representatives of the Center — a document was submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska under the title: Resolution on the Condemnation and Prohibition of the Promotion and Glorification of the Ideology and Symbols of the Independent State of Croatia, and of Ustasha, Nazi, and Fascist Ideology and Symbols. The public was informed in a timely manner about the other circumstances that accompanied the drafting of this document.
The significance of this document, which represents an institutional response to the glorification and rehabilitation of the ideology and symbols of the Independent State of Croatia, as well as to possible security threats in the surroundings of the Republic of Srpska, is also reflected in the fact that the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska adopted this resolution unanimously. The Resolution and the conclusions related to it were adopted at the session held on 17 March 2026 (see here). After the completion of the necessary legal procedure, it was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska on 17 March 2026.
Download the Resolution in PDF format.