Does it matter why someone apologises?
It's been the biggest bloodbath inside Europe since World War II.
Today for the 1995 massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica expressing sympathy to the victims and admitting that Serbia did not enough to prevent the killings.
The country has been divided over the apology."Serbia will sign its own guilt with this declaration,"
For others it's a real sign of closure. "With the adoption of the declaration, Serbia is closing a tragic chapter and opening a new one of peace and tolerance," according to the newspaper Politika.
But whose interests was the apology in?
The stopped short of calling the massacre genocide leading some to question how genuine it was.
And with Serbia's clear ambitions of joining the EU, regional stability only stands to work in its favour.
Another controversial was made by the Pope last week to victims of priestly sexual abuse in Ireland.
For many inside Ireland, the apology was a . Was it just an attempt to make a 'problem' go away?
Does it matter why someone apologises or does an apology have to come from the right place?