14.06.2024.

Ceremony commemorating 25th anniversary of Battle of Košare

A ceremony to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Košare was held in Belgrade tonight.

The event was attended by the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, and members of the collegiums of the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff.

Acting as a representative for the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević addressed the audience. According to him, the history of our homeland is full of acts of courage committed by people who defended the honour, the hearths and homes and the lives of the weak from the attacks of numerous invaders. The question of “what would have happened if the Košare heroes had not done the heroic deed defending their country” is rarely asked, he said.

- Would Serbia be the way it is today, would we have freedom and how many of our compatriots, cities, churches and monasteries would have been destroyed? Just imagine what would have happened to us if it hadn’t been for the heroes of Košare who were an impenetrable rampart of our freedom - said Vučević.

According to PM Vučević, the 1999 NATO aggression proved that our society is capable of mustering its forces to defend the homeland in the hour of mortal danger.

- It is this gene, unfathomable and unprecedented, that still guides this nation, brings our people together when they are thought to be divided, unites us when the powerful ones think they have divided us and defeated this gene that is responsible for our love of freedom. In 1999, the NATO alliance launched an illegal, brutal and merciless aggression that violated the international public order. The entire world is feeling the consequences of that unilateral act today - said PM Vučević and emphasized that at the time, young recruits were at the epicenter of the conflict that required superhuman endurance and courage.

According to Prime Minister Vučević, the heroes of the Battle of Košare laid down their lives defending the homeland, thereby demonstrating the ultimate love for the country and their families.

- A quarter of a century has passed since that terrible battle. As the years go by, their feat does not lose its brilliance, on the contrary, its greatness is increasing, because thanks to them, a severe blow was inflicted on the injustice that at the time loomed over this part of the world. The Serbian soldier showed the whole world how one should fight for freedom. It is important that the memory of that war year becomes an integral part of the moral and spiritual value system of present and future generations. And that will be an incentive for us to strengthen true values - said the Prime Minister.

According to him, a free Serbia will celebrate those who deserve the most credit for bringing it its freedom and will not allow the best ones to be forgotten.

- We will build memories of the best among us who gave their all for Serbia. The heroism demonstrated while defending the homeland is today a symbol of national pride and the basis for the future generations’ identity. Your war exploits will be passed down from generation to generation, serving as examples of bravery and heroism for future soldiers - said PM Vučević. According to him, Serbia is reestablishing its identity, and one of its important components is compulsory military service, because "a Serb and a soldier have almost always been synonymous".

Colonel Duško Šljivančanin (retd), wartime commander of the 53rd Border Battalion, Priština Corps, 3rd Army, spoke on behalf of the soldiers who had fought in Košare. According to him, a quarter of a century has passed since the battle of Košare, and at this distance in time, we can analyze the events that preceded the aggression, as well as the ones that occurred during and after the aggression, from the military, political and geostrategic aspects.

- The situation on that border has always been somewhere between war and peace. The battles of Košare and Paštrik are symbols of defence against NATO aggression. Until the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement, no foreign soldier had set foot on the soil of Kosovo and Metohija. By defending the state border, we created the conditions for our state leadership to enter into negotiations and for Resolution 1244 to be passed - said Colonel Šljivančanin.

Sindi Ivanković, daughter of Yugoslav Army Major Krunoslav Ivanković, who died at the Košare outpost on April 14, 1999, spoke on behalf of the families of the fallen heroes of the Battle of Košare. She says that she considers herself a living memory of her father.

- Life has continued. Commemorations, anniversary celebrations, and literary evenings cannot replace my dad, but when I hear that he and his brave comrades are being talked about, my heart fills with joy. For me, this event is more than a mere duty or a tradition, it is my life. Without condemnation and criticism, I have my own dream of freedom and peace, of us thinking differently, adopting different knowledge and skills, of this becoming our fuel for preserving memories and traditions - said Ivanković.

The organizer of tonight’s event is the Committee of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for nurturing the traditions of Serbian liberation wars.

The fighting at the Košare border outpost lasted for 67 days, until June 14, 1999, when the Yugoslav Army withdrew from Kosovo and Metohija, following the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement.