24.03.2013.

Remembrance Day for those killed in NATO bombing

On the occasion of marking the 24th March – Remembrance Day for those killed in the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, First Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Aleksandar Vucic, accompanied by Air Force Commander Major General Ranko Zivak and Deputy Commander Major General Miodrag Gordic laid a wreath near the memorial to the killed members of the Air Force and Air Defence in front of the AF&AD Command in Zemun.

Minister Vucic said that on this day we remember those who were the most courageous in the defence against the NATO aggression and those who, without caring for their lives, cared for Serbia and protected it.

- This is the time not only to remember the difficult moments faced by this country, but to celebrate our heroes. What they did to Serbia may

not and must not be ever forgotten. Their sacrifice was not in vain, and they showed what Serbia must mean to all of us and how we need to behave towards Serbia in the future – Minister Vucic said, expressing confidence that their example must be clear example for all of us what people are ready to do for their country, not being afraid of a much superior aggressor. What is ahead of the Serbian Government, he said, but also ahead of us is to provide our children future without war.

Wreaths at the memorial to the killed airmen were also laid by representatives of the Air Force and Air Defence, family members, airmen associations, and veterans' associations. In the Air Force and Air Defence Command Minister Vucic visited the exhibition "Remembering the air force victims", which was dedicated to the centenary of the death of the first Serbian pilot Mihajlo Petrovic.

On the occasion of marking the Remembrance Day, delegation of the Serbian Armed Forces laid a wreath at the memorial to Heroes of the 37th Motorised Brigade in the "Stefan Nemanja" barracks in Raska. The delegation was headed by Chief of General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic, and it included the Commander of the 2nd Army Brigade Brigadier General Marinko Pavlovic and Commander of the 21st Infantry Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Miroslav Stefanovic. Wreaths were also laid by the family members of those killed, as well as delegations of the local authorities, MoI, associations and organizations.

- It was difficult time – time of suffering and pain. The aggressor used cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions, and the targets were also parts of cities, energy and telecommunication systems, infrastructure facilities and even hospitals and schools. In this war, there were more civilians than soldiers killed, which was called collateral damage – the Chief of General Staff said in his address to the crowd at the memorial service in Raska and he recalled that the Serbian Armed Forces then courageously and selflessly defended its people.

- During the 78 days of continuous air attacks on our country, along with the suppression of the rebellion in Kosovo and Metohija,

the Armed Forces offered resistance as no attacker could have imagined. Among the best units of our armed forces there was the 37th Motorized Brigade from Raska. It was composed of soldiers and officers from the territory of the municipalities of Raska, Kraljevo and Vrnjacka Banja – General Dikovic said, adding that it is on all of us to preserve the memory of the victims, comrades, friends and the loved ones.

- Neither we, nor the generations to come, may forget our history and the people who defended their homeland, particularly those that embedded the freedom of the fatherland in their lives. Eternal glory and thanks be to them - General Ljubisa Dikovic said at the commemorative gathering in Raska.

The delegation, headed by the Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Guard Brigadier General Milomir Todorovic laid a wreath at the memorial to the soldiers of the Guard Brigade killed in front of the Dr Dragisa Misovic Clinical Centre in Belgrade.

In the Banjica barracks, wreaths were laid at the memorial to the fallen members of 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade and 126th Air Surveillance, Early Warning and Guidance Brigade. The delegation was headed by the Commander of the 250th Missile Brigade, Brigadier General Dusko Zarkovic, and the memorial to the fallen members was served by Bishop Porfirije (Peric).

The Remembrance Day for those killed in the NATO bombing was marked in the commands, units and institutions of the Serbian Armed Forces by series of commemorative gatherings and lying wreaths at the monuments to members of the killed members of the Armed Forces.

On the occasion of the Remembrance Day, wreaths were laid at memorials across Serbia to mark the suffering in the NATO air intervention against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which lasted 78 days. The bombing ended on 10th June by signing of the Kumanovo Agreement and the adoption of the Resolution 1244 in the UN Security Council.