Sevarlic: The significance of the Battle of Pastrik has yet to be told; back then, unity triumphed over force

A soldier doing his regular military service in the 549th Motorized Brigade, Bratislav Sevarlic, stated that even 26 years later, the memories of the Battle of Pastrik have not faded and that the battle symbolizes a part of Serbian history in which “unity triumphed over force,” which is why these events will be spoken about more in the future.

“The Battle of Pastrik symbolizes a part of history that has yet to be told – a time when the unity of young men overcame the immense force coming toward us. The unity of the Serbian people and the army that was stationed at Pastrik at that time will, in the coming period, serve as a symbol of that unity,” Sevarlic told Kosovo Online.

Asked how participants in the battle view those events 26 years later, Sevarlic said it's only natural that their perspective has changed over time.

“We are older now. Back then, we didn’t look at certain things the way we would today. But most of the fighters, my friends, believe that even today, if the same thing happened, we would all go again without hesitation,” Sevarlic emphasized.

He added that the memories have not faded, even after so many years.

“Not a day goes by without us talking about something, whether good or bad. Even now, 26 years later, the feeling hasn’t ‘gone out.’ Sometimes it’s stronger, sometimes weaker, but it’s always there among us. It feels like it happened just yesterday,” said Sevarlic, who was serving his regular military service at the time in 1999.