14.06.2025.

Commemoration of 26th anniversary of Battle of Košare

A commemorative event to mark the 26th anniversary of the Battle of Košare was held at the National Theatre in Belgrade tonight.

The event was attended by the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, representing the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Đuro Macut, government ministers, Deputy Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Lieutenant General Tiosav Janković, members of the Defence Minister’s and the Chief of the General Staff’s collegiums, members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, surviving Battle of Košare veterans, representatives of religious communities, family members and friends of the fallen heroes.

Addressing the audience, Minister Đurđević Stamenkovski said that the purpose of the gathering was to remember the past that had been kept quiet about for a long time and to commemorate a historic feat of our heroes “whose worth we still believe in today”.

- We are here tonight to utter one name loudly and proudly – Košare. It is the name of our history, it is the name of our genetic code, it represents what we are and what we must be. Košare is not only a place on a map. Košare is a solemn ground, famous for the heroism of our homeland’s best sons. Košare is a garden full of beautiful peonies, a place where the Serbian soldier, left without the support of the world, stood in defence of the country, determined not to pull back a single metre before the aggressor. Košare is a place where a single command was issued – do not let go! Do not let go of Serbia, do not let go of your hearth and home, do not let go of your children, do not let go of freedom – said Minister Đurđević Stamenkovski and added that the most important monument of the Košare heroes is freedom, and that we must safeguard it.

Lieutenant Colonel Srđan Nikolić (retd) addressed the Košare veterans emphasizing that the cruelty of that battle “was reflected in the daily battles on the ground" and that in difficult moments, "the heroism of unknown heroes, who defended every inch of their country, could be seen." He added that the surviving veterans were striving to bring all the fallen heroes back to life through their work.

Kata Cerna, the mother of the fallen soldier Tibor Cerna, greeted the audience and thanked them for coming to pay tribute to the fallen Košare soldiers and for still talking about them and not forgetting them.

The host of tonight's event is the Serbian Government’s Committee for Nurturing the Traditions of the Liberation Wars of Serbia.

Earlier today, a delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces laid a wreath at the Monument to the Heroes of Košare in Belgrade, as part of a national ceremony commemorating the battle.

The Battle of Košare began on April 9, and combat operations lasted until June 14, 1999. Soldiers defended the state border and prevented the terrorist KLA from invading the territory of Serbia via Albania for 67 days.