09.06.2020.

Minister Vulin: Those who fought for freedom and those who took away freedom cannot be equated

The Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, attended the awards ceremony held today at the Russian House in Belgrade where national jubilee medals "75 years since the victory in the Great Patriotic War" were presented.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Belgrade, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, awarded medals to the Second World War veterans, and in the continuation of the ceremony, a minute of silence was observed for all victims of that war.

Minister Vulin addressed the gathering pointing out that 75 years ago the Yugoslav partisans led us to the victorious side of the world and together with the Red Army they were able to say that evil had been defeated and they firmly believed that evil had indeed been defeated forever.

- Seventy-five years ago, the world watched the horrors in Jasenovac, Auschwitz, Dachau, and 75 years ago no one could have thought that the horror would be erased from the eyes of the world one day and that it would fade and that the time would come when we would have to persistently and patiently prove to new generations what the world looked like then, who were victors and who were the defeated, that the moment and time would come when we would have to explain and prove that the victims were victims and that aggressors were aggressors. That is why it is important and worthwhile to stand before you today, because you are proof of what was true and that your generation led our people and our country to the better side of the world - the only right side of the world, where Serbs and Russians have always been. So it was and so it will be - the Minister of Defence pointed out.

According to him, it is hard to believe that today we have to explain, to prove, to fight "that the Ustasha greeting ‘ready for home’ must not and cannot be legitimate and must not and cannot be spoken by civilized and free people."

- It is hard to believe that only 75 years have passed, and that we must explain that not everyone was the same and that you cannot equate those who almost destroyed the planet Earth, i.e. Hitler's Wehrmacht, with the Red Army, that you cannot equate those who fought for freedom with those who took away freedom. Only 75 years have passed, you are still alive, and the planet is waiting for answers as if it were possible to interpret the Second World War differently, as if it were possible to put Russians and Serbs, Yugoslav partisans and the Red Army on the side of the defeated. Your generation put us among the victors. My generation must not allow that victory to become questionable and to be thought of differently, to be diminished or lost. Seventy-five years is not long enough for us to say - we were all the same.

The Serbs are not among those nations that allow their history to be rewritten because daily politics thinks that it would be better or different that way. The Serbian people fought for their freedom, they are grateful to the Yugoslav partisans for the glorious victory, just as they are grateful to the Red Army which immensely helped us to liberate our capital and a large part of our country - said Minister Vulin and added that "we are not among those nations who were given freedom by someone else."

The Minister of Defence said that people are either proud or ashamed of their ancestors, but they cannot dispute the truth about the Second World War. "Let no one try to take away my people's place among the victors, because it was you who won that place."

- Eternal glory to all those who are not with us, to soldiers, to heroes, to all those who consciously sacrificed themselves for the future of our country, for the freedom we live in and let no one forget - Serbs are not among those nations that will allow someone to rewrite their history or have someone choose their friends. Serbs remember, respect, Serbs are proof that every generation in the history of our people is ready to do almost anything for peace and everything for freedom - the Minister of Defence concluded.

Speaking about the importance of today's ceremony of awarding national medals to veterans, Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko emphasized that this was one in a series of events marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism, a sign of great respect for veterans, to whom "we are forever indebted".

- You are an example that will always be in front of us, an example of heroism, perseverance, dedication and a firm attitude in favour of the living and in favour of the truth. We are with Serbia in terms of memorial issues and the fight against revising history, just as we were with Serbia during the Second World War - said Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko, congratulating the veterans on the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism and adding that today's event has special significance because it is held several days before the celebration of the national holiday - Russia Day.

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Zoran Đorđević, representatives of the Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War of Serbia (SUBNOR) and veterans.