24.03.2021.
Minister Stefanović lays wreaths at memorials to victims of NATO aggression: We proudly remember heroic deeds
Today, on the Day of Remembrance of the NATO aggression victims, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, laid a wreath at the “Monument to Victims of the 1990-2000 Wars and the NATO Aggression Against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999“ in the centre of Kuršumlija and at the Memorial in the “Toplica Uprising“ barracks.
After laying the wreath at the memorial in the barracks in Kuršumlija, Minister Stefanović said that this was the day when we paid respects to brave defenders of our country at the very place where the Third Army’s forward command post had been and where 11 members of our armed forces, officers, NCOs and soldiers had lost their lives on the first day of the aggression, and 27 more people had been wounded.
– As an army and a country, we are obliged to remember these people because they gave the most important and valuable thing they had, but it is even more important that we continue building the kind of Serbia they would like to see today. And I think that Serbia, led by President Vučić and the Serbian Government, is building such a Serbia where people work hard and where our armed forces are getting stronger – Stefanović said, emphasizing that such armed forces were a guarantor of security and enabled the citizens of our country to live freely.– Freedom means having sufficiently equipped units, enough men and enough equipment so that you can tell everyone that Serbia is there to ensure peace and stability, and that no one should think about attacking it and being a threat to its citizens’ security – Minister of Defence pointed out.
Addressing the gathering in front of the memorial in the centre of Kuršumlija, the minister noted that this was one of the first towns to be bombed during the NATO aggression against our country.
– During the NATO aggression in Kuršumlija, not only military facilities were targeted. Schools, hospitals, civilian facilities and even kindergartens were hit. In those 78 days in Kuršumlija, members of the armed forces and the police and civilians were killed, and in the village of Merdare, eleven-month-old Bojana was killed in her father’s arms. Today we pay respects to our heroes, to all citizens, soldiers and policemen who lost their lives during the aggression against our country – Minister Stefanović said.
He pointed out that we must remember those people and their heroic deeds, because they had given the most valuable thing they had for the freedom of our homeland – their lives.
– During those 78 days of NATO aggression, thanks to their high morale, determination, training and dexterity, although much weaker, members of our armed forces did the impossible. Not caring about their own lives or who the opponent was, they defended their homeland, the only one they had, and they did not lose it. The Serbian Armed Forces have and will always be there for their people. We are proud of the people in our ranks who have shown that the big heart beating for Serbia, can never be stopped - the Minister of Defence pointed out.According to the minister, the terrible and senseless destruction of our country in which thousands of people were killed is still unpunished 22 years later, but our people are brave, defiant and hardworking and they have rebuilt our country from the ruins.
– All around us, new factories, hospitals and kindergartens are springing up in our country today, and Serbia has something to look forward to. It is looking forward to a bright future, progress, the things we build, repair and create together - Stefanović emphasized, adding that our job was to take care of the families of the people who had given their lives for Serbia.
Besides the Minister of Defence, the Mayor of Kuršumlija, Radoljub Vidić, representatives of the Union of War Veterans of the National Liberation Wars of Serbia (SUBNOR), family members of the NATO bombing victims and admirers of their deeds also laid wreaths at the memorial.
During today's ceremony, Minister Stefanović was accompanied by Brigadier General Savo Iriškić, Head of the Human Resources Department (J-1, Serbian Armed Forces General Staff) and Brigadier General Slađan Stamenković, the Third Army Brigade Commander.
After the ceremony in the "Toplica Uprising" barracks, Minister Stefanović met with Milena Nikolić, the daughter of a reserve officer, Captain First Class Milovan Ilić, who lost his life in the NATO bombing of the barracks in Kuršumlija in 1999. She works as a dentist in the 37th Mechanized Battalion. Radica Slavković, a nurse who was one of the first people to come to the aid of the victims on 24 March 1999, shared her memories of the first day of the aggression with the Minister of Defence.Nineteen member states of the North Atlantic Alliance started the aggression on the evening of 24 March 1999. The decision to bomb FR Yugoslavia was made without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.
Members of the armed forces, but also civilians, heroically defended the country for 78 days with all available means. The signing of the Military Technical Agreement (Kumanovo Agreement) on 9 June 1999 and the UN SC Resolution 1244 ended the aggression.
A minute of silence was observed in all organizational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in memory of the NATO aggression victims, and wreaths were laid at the memorials to the fallen service members.
