MAJEVICA AND SEMBERIJA DEFENDED IN SEPTEMBER 1992 AT GREAT COST

LOPARE, SEPTEMBER 21 /SRNA/ - The battle in which Majevica and Semberija were defended at great cost in September 1992 lasted 21 days and was one of the brightest episodes in the history of the creation of Republika Srpska, it was said today at a ceremony marking the 34th anniversary of the Battle of Panjik near Lopare.

President of the Garda Panteri Veterans' Association Petar Cvijetinović recalled that the battle for Panjik on Majevica lasted 21 days and that the entire 24-kilometre line fell at that time.

"Fourteen Guardsmen and 12 members of the Republika Srpska Army /RSA/, that is, members of other units, were killed. Twenty-six of them in total," Cvijetinović said.

Minister for Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education Draga Mastilović said that, thanks to the heroic units of the Army of Republika Srpska and the Panteri Guard, Serb Majevica and Serb Semberija were defended during those days, creating the conditions for completing the territory of Republika Srpska, which was then being established.

He stressed that it was very important to nurture a culture of remembrance of these events because memory remains part of the collective consciousness of a people.

According to him, after World War II, the Serb people were subjected for decades to pressure to forget the genocide against Serbs in the area west of the Drina River.

"If it had not been for precisely that collective memory of the Serb people of that genocide, there would have been neither the VRS nor the defence of Serb territories during the war of the 1990s," Mastilović told reporters, stressing the importance of passing the culture of remembrance on to future generations.

President of the Lopare Veterans' Organization Risto Radić said that in September 1992, forces of the so-called Army of BiH launched a surprise attack on RSA members and reached the initial communications routes between Bijeljina, Priboj and Tuzla.

"In a powerful counterattack, the Panteri units, with the support of members of other Majevica brigades and the Ministry of Interior /MoI/, pushed the enemy back to its initial positions, but unfortunately at the cost of the lives of Guardsmen and other VRS brigade members," Radić said.

Lopare Mayor Rado Savić said that Panjik was the place where the borders of Republika Srpska were defended and the foundations for its future and development were laid.

He stressed the need to work to ensure that the memory of those people lives on and is preserved from oblivion.

"We have good cooperation with the Lopare Municipal Veterans' Organization, as well as with the Republika Srpska Ministry of Veterans' Affairs and Disability Protection," Savić said.

Retired General Budimir Gavrić, who also served as commander of the East Bosnian Corps throughout the war, said that the large number of people who had gathered today demonstrated that a culture of remembrance was being nurtured.

"It also shows that many veterans, as well as younger people, remembered our soldiers who defended Republika Srpska and gave their lives for it," Gavrić added.

Numerous visitors, families, veterans and brothers-in-arms, as well as young people, laid wreaths and flowers at the monument to those killed at Panjik, where a memorial service was held.

In the September 1992 offensive by Muslim forces from Teočak, which lasted 21 days, 26 VRS soldiers were killed, as were Garda Panteri commander Branko Pantelić and captain Stevan Lazić. Despite the heavy fighting, this part of Republika Srpska was defended.