KARAN: THEY DID NOT DESTROY SERBIAN PEOPLE, IT HAS BECOME EVEN STRONGER

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 24 /SRNA/ - The President of Republika Srpska, Siniša Karan, said that 27 years ago, NATO attacked the sovereign state of Serbia and the Serbian people with unprecedented force, thereby definitively dismantling international law, but failed to destroy the Serbs, who have become even stronger.

Karan stated that the consequences of the collapse of international law are still being witnessed today, and that what is happening today happened to the Serbian people 27 years ago.

"They not only killed civilians; their targets were bridges and all infrastructure and civilian facilities. More than 22 tons of explosives and 37,000 banned cluster bombs were dropped, along with 22,000 combat flights over Serbia," Karan told reporters in Banja Luka, where he attended a memorial service for the victims of the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia /FRY/, which began on this day 27 years ago.

He stressed that today is a day of remembrance for 2,500 innocent civilians who lost their lives during the 78 days of NATO aggression against Serbia and the Serbian people.

"Unfortunately, among the victims were also 89 children, and today we remember their tears and their interrupted childhood. We also remember the 1,031 members of the Serbian army and police who were killed," Karan said.

He emphasized that the Serbian people must never forget, because a people that forgets has neither a present nor a future.

"They thought they would destroy the Serbian people then, but they failed. The Serbs have become even stronger. They did not destroy us in the First or the Second World War, nor in the Defensive-Patriotic War. What we have learned through those wars is that freedom has no price," Karan said.

Karan said that this is precisely what Serbia has demonstrated, that there is the strength and unity to defend the Serbian national being whenever and wherever any Serb is threatened.

Predrag Adamović, a representative of the Serbian Assembly Baštionik, said that the Serbian people have always been on the right side of history, on the side of those who defended freedom, truth, justice, and did good.

He also noted that the path the Serbs should follow is certainly not cooperation or coalition with NATO, that is, with evildoers.

A memorial service for the victims of the NATO bombing of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Republika Srpska, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia /FRY/ was held at the Church of Christ the Savior in Banja Luka, attended by officials of Republika Srpska.

In addition to Karan, those present included the Speaker of the National Assembly Nenad Stevandić, Prime Minister Savo Minić on behalf of the Government of Republika Srpska, SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, ministers in the Government of Republika Srpska, members of parliament, Serb member of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Radovan Kovačević, councillors in the Banja Luka City Assembly, representatives of the City Administration, and representatives of the Serbian Assembly Baštionik.

NATO began its aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999.

The aggression lasted 78 days, during which thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed, and material damage amounting to tens of billions of dollars was inflicted.

During the aggression, weapons prohibited by international conventions were used, including cluster bombs and

depleted uranium munitions.