14.06.2018.
Marking 19th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Košare
On the occasion of marking the 19th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Košare, a delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, Cerna family, representatives of the Kovačica municipality, the Debeljača Local Community and the Association for Preserving the Tradition of the Serbian Liberation Wars laid wreaths at the monument to Tibor Cerna, one of the fallen heroes in the Battle of Košare.
The state ceremony marking the end of the Battle of Košare was led by Negovan Stanković, state secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs.
The state ceremony is hosted by the Committee for Preserving the Tradition of the Serbian Liberation Wars in cooperation with the Municipality of Kovačica.
The Battle of Košare was a battle between members of the Yugoslav Army and Shqiptar terrorists from the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. The battle was fought over the border crossing Rasa Kosares on the border between Serbia (then FR Yugoslavia) and Albania, between 9th April and 10th June 1999, during the NATO aggression against Serbia. The aim of the Albanian side was a land invasion of Kosovo and Metohija and the cutting off of the communication routes of the Yugoslav Army between the forces in Prizren and Đakovica. After days of heavy fighting, Yugoslav Army managed to defeat the attackers and prevent their entry to Kosovo and Metohija. Members of the KLA managed to seize the Košare outpost because of the Albanian Army's artillery support, the support of NATO aviation, and a small number of Yugoslav Army troops in that area that had to withdraw, but they were defeated in their plan of land invasion in that direction despite the support they had. Battle of Košare was officially over on 14th June 1999, when the Yugoslav Army, on the basis of the Kumanovo Agreement with KFOR, withdrew from Košare.
Since 2017, marking of the anniversary of the Battle of Košare has been an integral part of the State programme for celebrating the anniversaries of the historic events of the Serbian liberation wars.
