Vucevic: We must not extinguish the flame of freedom and the obligation that Kosovo is ours

Deputy Prime Minister of the Serbian Government and Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic assessed that it was Serbia's obligation not to give up on defending Kosovo, defending the truth, and never extinguishing the flame of freedom.

"Our obligation is to think of Kosovo and Metohija as something that is ours and that is just and can be justified through facts. At the same time, we must be a politically mature nation to preserve our state and continue to strengthen it further, never giving up on the truth and never extinguishing the flame of freedom," Vucevic emphasized at the opening of a two-day international conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of NATO intervention in the FR Yugoslavia.

He stressed that the survival of Serbia was solely linked to faith in victory.

"Through persistent, continuous work, we can achieve that dream. And that is the only way, and everyone must know it," Vucevic emphasized.

He added that the goal of the aggression had been the occupation and seizure of a part of Serbia's territory.

"Even today, shameless persuasion continues that we should yield and accept how it would be good and beneficial for us to renounce a part of our territory, to practically undergo an amputation of our own body. This is not the first time they have advised us like this. They did the same when the Serbs experienced persecution in Krajina, when Operation Storm and Flash occurred, they said the same when more than 100,000 Serbs had to leave Sarajevo. They always told us the same when we experienced a national catastrophe," Vucevic emphasized.

He stressed that one of the consequences of the events of 1999 was that the Serbs were still persecuted in Kosovo today.

"The Serbs are endangered in Kosovo and Metohija today, and probably if we all loaded up in trucks and tractors, as unfortunately happened to us before, all problems would disappear and be solved. Our obligation is to think of Kosovo and Metohija as something that is ours and that is just and can be justified through facts. At the same time, we must be a politically mature nation to preserve our state and continue to strengthen it further, never giving up on the truth and never extinguishing the flame of freedom," Vucevic emphasized.

Vucevic said that more and more people in the world are freely and objectively assessing the facts about what happened 25 years ago.

He stated that March 24, 1999, had been a day when great sorrow hung over the land, but also the death of international law.

"It is clear that at that time, law was defeated, and justice was trampled upon," Vucevic emphasized.

He mentioned that Serbia would never forget the children, civilians, soldiers, and policemen who perished.

"But we will also never forget the tears, fear, and disbelief because a people who endured millions of sacrifices for a fairer world were attacked," Vucevic said.

He reminded that the NATO bombing of the FR Yugoslavia had been a pivotal historical event that led to what Serbia faced today.

"The aggression itself represented the collapse of justice and morality and was profoundly unjust," Vucevic said.

He added that it was important to show the younger generations the essence of the Yugoslav crisis at the time and then the reasons why 19 of the most powerful Western countries attacked a sovereign state.

"It is crucial for the younger generations to know that it was then that the pogrom of the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija began. From then until today. And precisely what happened to Serbia and Montenegro from March 24, 1999, is what we have as a result today," Vucevic said.

He assessed that the army and police had provided strong resistance to terrorists in 1999.

"We will never allow them to convince us that we were defeated then. We were not defeated on the battlefield," Vucevic assessed.

He said that Kosovo was above all.

"We cannot explain this to those who are solely focused on material facts. They forget that our people wouldn't exist, not then, not throughout our history, if we had built our identity on mere materialism," Vucevic emphasized.

He added that Serbia remembered the suffering and the ordeal of its people and its cultural-historical heritage since the time of the restoration of Serbian statehood. "We remember the contamination from depleted uranium without mercy or any accountability. Since the beginning of the NATO aggression, we have witnessed numerous disasters resulting from the politics of force and the belief in one's own superiority. A belief that predicts eternal truth, but justice will have the final say. Therefore, it is the duty of all of us to preserve the memory of our comrades, our friends, and our loved ones who paid the ultimate price, to remember their faces and deeds, and to ensure that the younger generations know this," Vucevic underscored.