Controversial Roundtable: Bosnian Serb Officials Meet Sanctioned Russians, Address 'Historical Truth'

A group of legislators from the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS) recently participated in an online roundtable discussion alongside sanctioned Russian officials. Among the central themes debated was a significant reinterpretation of historical events, according to a report from [Slobodna Bosna](https://www.slobodna-bosna.ba/vijest/485534/prekrajanje_historije_poslanici_iz_rs_na_sastanku_s_negatorima_genocida_i_sankcionisanim_rusima.html). An official statement indicated that the discussions encompassed alleged genocides against Soviet and Serb populations during World War II, atrocities targeting Serbs in the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, and the outcomes and implications of the Dayton Agreement.

The digital event, titled "Lessons of World War II, New Challenges of Today – Rebirth of Nazism," featured Elena Afanasjeva. She holds positions as head of a friendship group and deputy chair of the Federal Council's Committee for International Affairs. Ms. Afanasjeva is currently under sanctions from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, and Ukraine due to her involvement in Russia's unlawful annexation of Ukrainian territories in 2022.

During her address, Afanasjeva asserted that the past two decades have witnessed a noticeable re-evaluation of World War II's outcomes. She attributed this trend to a new generation of politicians in Western countries, whom she claimed bear no moral accountability for events that transpired eighty years ago. She further alleged that those unable to achieve victory on the battlefield have instead resorted to information and psychological operations to discredit and diminish the war's results.

Ruslan Trad, a hybrid threats researcher at the Atlantic Council and writer for Bulgaria's Capital Weekly, informed Detektor that the specific phrasing "preserving historical truth and confronting historical revisionism" is a well-known soft power instrument of the Kremlin. "Moscow consistently employs this language to delegitimize Western narratives regarding the Soviet past, justify its invasion of Ukraine as an 'anti-fascist' operation, and cultivate allies in the Balkans who hold revisionist views on the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia," Trad explained.

This assessment is echoed by Stratcom, the European Union's disinformation combatting body. Its reports frequently highlight how Kremlin-aligned media and Russian officials equate contemporary Europe, specifically the EU, with Nazism.

Jelena Guskova, who heads the Center for the Study of the Contemporary Balkan Crisis at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also attended the assembly. During her address, she reportedly emphasized the critical importance of maintaining Russian-Serbian relations, asserting that these are affirmed through ongoing institutional and political engagements, which serve as key indicators of continuity and mutual understanding. "The bonds between the Serbian and Russian peoples are further strengthened by their shared cultivation of cultural and historical ties, alongside mutual comprehension in current circumstances," Guskova stated.