GAŠIĆ: 35 YEARS AGO, POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SERB PEOPLE STOOD UP TO DEFEND NATIONAL INTERESTS

PALE, OCTOBER 24 /SRNA/ - Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić said that the establishment of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska 35 years ago testifies to the determination and courage of the political representatives of the Serb people to stand up for national interests, stressing that Serbia, as a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, firmly upholds the preservation of both its letter and spirit.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH on this day in 1991, Gašić noted that the determination of the Serb political representatives was rewarded with the establishment and recognition of the constituent elements of state authority in what is today Republika Srpska.

"The Dayton Peace Agreement confirmed the territorial and political rights of the Serb people in BiH and Serbia as a guarantor of their preservation and implementation," Gašić said, adding that Serbia firmly upholds the preservation of the agreement and will never abandon that commitment.

According to him, we are witnessing attempts to restrict and weaken Republika Srpska in the exercise of its constitutional powers and deprive the Serb people of the freedoms and rights they won through a just struggle and had confirmed by international legal instruments.

"To some, whose names are not even worth mentioning, our strength and unity are a thorn in their side and a lump in their throat. In their attacks on the very existence of Republika Srpska, they do not shy away from blatant lies, deception and stigmatization. But we have persevered for more than three decades," Gašić stated.

He stressed that the international circumstances are changing and that the world is no longer blind and deaf to what Belgrade and Banja Luka have to say.

"Only now are some members of the international community beginning to understand not whom, but what the Serb people opposed during the civil war in this region," Gašić said.

Noting that Serbia is growing and developing economically, Gašić added that Serbia's defense capabilities are incomparably greater today than they were ten years ago and will continue to develop, but not as an instrument of pressure and aggression, but solely as a deterrent.

"The strength of the Serbian Armed Forces is a guarantee of the security and freedom of the Serb people and a shield against attempts to impose other people's interests on us by force. Be assured that in the years ahead we will continue to build the closest and strongest ties with you, because the well-being of our compatriots in Republika Srpska is just as important to us as the well-being of Serbs in the Republic of Serbia," Gašić said.

He added that it is important to stand by one's own national interests and not allow everything that has been built so far to be called into question by reckless political decisions.

"We must not, under any circumstances, allow our internal divisions today to jeopardize our national future, or allow those who do not wish the Serb people well to reap the benefits of our wrong choices and short-sighted decisions. Let us preserve our harmony and unity, because only then will God's providence be on our side," Gašić concluded.

He conveyed fraternal greetings from Aleksandar Vučić, noting that Vučić's policies had helped bring the Serb people together again under the same flag, with the aim of preserving their identity, jointly defending the space in which they live, and strengthening their ties regardless of imposed borders and administrative divisions