SERBS PAID DEARLY FOR FREEDOM, LIKE FEW OTHER NATIONS

VARVARIN, MAY 30 /SRNA/ - Today in Varvarin, the 27th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the bridge, where 10 people died and more than 30 were injured, was marked. On this occasion, it was emphasized that the Serbs were victims of illegal aggression and that they paid dearly for freedom, like few other nations.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs of Serbia, Đorđe Todorov, said that on that May 30, 1999, ordinary people who were crossing the bridge perished.

At the commemorative gathering marking 27 years since the NATO bombing of the bridge and the massacre of innocent civilians in Varvarin, he pointed out that world criminals tried through aggression to finish the job they had failed to do throughout the entire 20th century.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Predrag Rajić, said that Serbs were the victims of illegal aggression, and stated that the evil which ruled that day must not be allowed to win and reign again.

"The people who perished here on that May 30 were not involved in politics and were not guilty of anything. They died simply because they were Serbs, because they lived in this town, and because they were going to church, to the market, and crossing the bridge that day," Rajić said.

The President of the Municipality of Varvarin, Violeta Lutovac Đurđević, stated that Varvarin did not only lose people that day, but also parts of its soul.

The commemorative gathering was preceded by a liturgy and a memorial service for the victims in the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

After the memorial service, students from the Varvarin High School performed a suitable recital in memory of their innocently killed fellow citizens. The program concluded with the symbolic act of throwing a wreath from the Varvarin bridge into the Velika Morava river.

NATO planes bombed the bridge in Varvarin twice on May 30, 1999, at 1:25 PM. Those who died were Sanja Milenković /15/, Milivoje Ćirić /66/, Milan Savić /24/, Vojkan Stanković /31/, Zoran Marinković /33/, Ratobor Simonović /38/, Ružica Simonović /55/, Stojan Ristić /56/, Tole Apostolović /74/, and Dragoslav Terzić /68/, while more than 30 people were injured.

The bridge over the Velika Morava had no military function whatsoever, and there were no military targets in its vicinity.

The attack was carried out on the great holiday of the Holy Trinity, which is traditionally celebrated in Varvarin and the surrounding areas. In addition, Sunday is market day in Varvarin, so at the time of the attack, there were over a thousand people near the bridge.