08.06.2024.
Presidents Vučić, Dodik visit veterans from Serbia, Republika Srpska
Today, the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, visited veterans from Serbia and Republika Srpska at the Guard Club in Topčider.
Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić was in attendance during the visit.Addressing the veterans, President Vučić said that in the past decades, everyone was afraid to thank the people who had defended the homeland.
- They would always tell us that Republika Srpska was a genocidal creation, but they could not look themselves in the eye, or in the mirror, and say “no, this is an ordinary people, who stood up to defend their hearths and homes and preserve the land of their ancestors and their descendants”. So thank you, fighters and veterans from Republika Srpska for protecting, preserving and defending your country, ultimately bringing Republika Srpska to this day as a successful entity and as a place where the Serbian people feel safe - said President Vučić.
He also expressed his gratitude to the veterans from Serbia who protected "our national interests in Kosovo and Metohija, in Košare and Paštrik and in every other place".
- Thank you for giving your homeland what is most valuable; no one can compare with you. I am proud of the fact that today we do not put Serbian heroes in black sacks and hand them over to anyone. We now respect our heroes, bow to them, show our respect and thank them for everything they have done for our Serbia - said the president.Ending his address, President Vučić thanked everyone for loving Serbia and its people.
- Please get together with your brothers from Republika Srpska often, talk, and exchange experiences with them. I believe that many of those experiences will be important to us in the future, so that we can remember everything that happened in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and so that we should not allow the crimes against our people to be forgotten, but neither your heroism - emphasized President Vučić.According to President of Republika Srpska Dodik, at the meeting preceding the veterans’ gathering, a declaration was adopted stating that the Serbian national and state interests have no alternative.
- All our other alternatives are less important than the one we proclaimed today, namely, that the Serbian national, state interests and the protection of Serbs wherever they may live, are absolutely crucial - stressed Dodik.
A strong Serbia is the goal of all the people who have gathered at the All-Serb Assembly today, President Dodik said, and Republika Srpska is ready to help Serbia achieve that goal every step of the way.- A policy that shows responsibility towards the people, the state, history, a policy that does not accept being shaped from outside, that promotes Serbia as a country of Serbs and other nations living in it as our equals. A policy that seeks the unity of the Serbian people in the future, the understanding of the Serbian people wherever they may be, and a policy that sends the message that the Serbian people will defend themselves whenever they feel threatened, is the policy pursued today by the Serbian state leadership. That's why the people from Republika Srpska look up to Serbia, we love Serbia and live for it, for its every success. We are ready to contribute to Serbia’s strength, to the preservation of our national tradition and the memory of all the people who fought for our national and state interests in the past - said the president of Republika Srpska.
The veterans were addressed by the Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Nemanja Starović and Republika Srpska’s Minister of Labour and Veterans' and Disability Protection Danijel Egić, the former commander of the Priština Corps and the Third Army, General Vladimir Lazarević (retd) and the Army of Republika Srpska’s General Budimir Gavrić (retd).
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