11.08.2020.
The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces nurture memories and keep them from oblivion
The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces keep the memories devotedly and value tradition and the memories of people and events from our glorious history, imbued with suffering, sorrow and pain, but also with courage, pride and honour, emphasizing that our people are always on the right side – on the side of truth, and thus we do not allow others to write our history.
In the years when we commemorate anniversaries of important events in the defence against the NATO aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 through a series of activities, we have proven that we carefully nurture the memories of all the victims of that unfortunate event and keep the truth from oblivion, to serve as an example to all future generations.
In co-production between the Ministry of Defence - Military Film Centre "Zastava Film" and the Radio-Television of Serbia, documentary feature films about the battles on Košare and Paštrik in 1999 were made and shown, and thanks to that there is not a single person today who has not heard of them. After 20 years of silence, films were made that saved the heroes from oblivion and theses cinematic achievements are a way to say thank you to all those people once again.
The documentary feature film “War Stories from Košare” had its premiere on 9 April 2019, on the day of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Košare. The film vividly portrays the situation in which soldiers, the heroes of Košare, found themselves in 1999 and chronologically presents the fighting which took place on the Yugoslav-Albanian border during 1998 and 1999. The soldiers and their commanding officers, who defended the homeland and prevented the aggressor from entering Kosovo and Metohija, testify about the attack on the Košare frontier post.
The documentary feature film “War Stories from Paštirk” premiered on 23 May last year, and it is a testimony to the heroic fight of members of our armed forces in the defence of our country on Paštrik in 1999. Based on the testimonies of more than 30 participants, officers, soldiers, reservists, volunteers and members of the 549th Motorized Brigade, events of the battle in the Paštrik mountain area were recounted, from the attack on the frontier post Gorožup to the withdrawal of our armed forces after the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement.
Both films by the author Slađana Zarić were shown on the First Channel of the Radio-Television of Serbia, so millions of viewers had the opportunity to get acquainted with the forgotten heroes and learn from their point of view what those battles looked like, battles for life, for homeland.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the defence of homeland against the NATO aggression, the Public Relations Department and the Military Film Centre “Zastava Film” created a film trilogy entitled “NATO Aggression on FRY, Peace… to be continued”, or “The Kosmet Trilogy”. Films “Cause”, “Humane Bombs” and “Peace… to be continued” are a testimony to key events in the period immediately before, during and after the NATO aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
After a number of years of injustice towards commanders and participants in the fighting during the NATO aggression, the edition "Warrior" was published, in which they gave us their views of those events. The Ministry of Defence presented the edition in which the memories of the most important wartime commanders about the heroic fight of members of our armed forces in the defence of their homeland were collected for the first time, and thousands of pages were filled with their memories.
The first four books of the edition are a four-volume war diary of the Commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Armed Forces, General Nebojša Pavković, entitled „The Third Army in the Merciful Angel’s Embrace for Seventy-Eight Days“. On more than 2,000 pages, General Pavković, chronologically describes and supports with arguments and documents what happened in 1999 in the Third Army’s defence area, day by day.
The fifth book of the edition "Pristina Corps 1998-1999 - Testimonies of Wartime Commanders" consists of the memories of the commander of the Pristina Corps, General Vladimir Lazarević, and the commanders of brigades and independent battalions within the corps on the 1999 war in Kosovo and Metohija.
The sixth and seventh books of the edition, "The Battle of Košare" and "The Battle of Paštrik", record the memories of the participants in the battles on Košare and Paštrik during the NATO aggression in 1999, on the front line of defence, faced with attempted land invasion of Kosovo and Metohija, on the border between Albania and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The book “Jump to Slatina – Russian Battalion in Kosovo and Metohija", a testimony from the period before the end of the aggression, describes the forced march of the battalion of the Russian Airborne Forces, which covered 620 kilometres in armoured personnel carriers from Bosnia to Kosovo and Metohija in the strictest secrecy and arrived at Slatina Airport before NATO forces.
The “Warrior” edition was published in order to preserve the experiences of our wartime commanders from the 1999 NATO aggression – as a contribution to the culture of keeping memories alive. The fact that in three days of the Book Fair in 2018, all the copies were sold out speaks of the importance of the “Warrior” edition.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the defence against NATO aggression, an exhibition of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces "Defence 78" was opened in the show room of the Belgrade City Museum, dedicated to all victims of the NATO aggression. For the first time, the multimedia and interactive exhibition by Dušan Jovović shows video and printed materials that have not been shown to the public so far. The exhibition is divided into eight parts, and the art of the exhibition is based on authentic artefacts that were created during 1998 and 1999.
The exhibition shows in a unique way the country's heroic defence during the 78 days of the NATO aggression, which began without the approval of the UN Security Council, and it is dedicated to the fallen members of the armed forces, police and civilians, many of whom were, unfortunately, children.
This unique exhibition is an unavoidable part of the visits of foreign statesmen and delegations to the Republic of Serbia, as well as the general public and numerous citizens.
After his tour of the exhibition, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergey Shoygu, wrote in the guest book that "NATO aggression against Yugoslavia took the lives of many innocent people - women, the elderly, children. But the Serbian people, thanks to their audacity, courage and strength of spirit, were not broken. We must not forget that tragedy and we must do everything we can so that it does not happen again."
The exhibition left a strong impression on the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the members of the expert teams of the Russian Armed Forces, who helped prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection in Serbia.
The Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, General Zhang Youxia, showed special interest in the original exhibits and videos, and after the tour of the exhibition, he wrote the following in the guest book: "We oppose war and defend peace”.
A six-member team of medical experts from China, who helped Serbia in the fight against the coronavirus took time out of their busy schedule to visit the said exhibition. The fact that all six doctors, at their own request, wrote their impressions in the guest book testifies to the strong impression that the exhibition left on the members of the expert team. The members of the delegation of the Chinese Embassy were also moved by everything they saw during the tour of the "Defence 78" exhibition and Deputy Ambassador Tian Yishu wrote "A great honour for the brave Serbian Armed Forces and Serbian people" in the guest book.
The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces will continue to nurture memories and remind everyone of the suffering and destruction of the people in this area in 1999. Thanks to the fact that they saved 78 days of defence of the country during the NATO aggression from oblivion through numerous activities, much more is said and known today about the fallen members of the armed forces, police, civilians and, unfortunately, a large number of children than before.
Video: Saved from oblivion
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERY11.08.2020
mp4 (85,98 MB)Saved from oblivion
