Serbia's nationalist President Tomislav Nikolic has personally apologised for the first time for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslims.

However, he's stopped short of calling it genocide.

Honouring the dead: Portraits of some of the 8000 Muslims who were killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Credit:Reuters

"I kneel and ask for forgiveness for Serbia for the crime committed in Srebrenica," Nikolic said of the slaughter, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

"I apologise for the crimes committed by any individual in the name of our state and our people," he said in Thursday's interview to be aired on Bosnian national television, parts of which have been released on YouTube.