VUKELIĆ: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IS NOT SPOIL OF WAR, BUT A CRY FOR FREEDOM

MRAKOVICA, JUNE 29 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska is neither spoil of war nor a genocidal creation, but a cry for freedom, the fruit of this people’s love and desire to live freely and with dignity, Nikola Vukelić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia, said today.

In his address at a ceremony marking the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Kozara, Vukelić said that in the past century the Serbian people fought, suffered, and bled for freedom, a freedom also won in Republika Srpska, and that Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has demonstrated that he knows how to preserve in peace the achievements gained by those who fought in the war.

“May God grant that this century will be the century when we live, give birth, and work for Serbia, Republika Srpska, and Serbian unity. History teaches us that often what we fought hard for in war was wasted because of certain historical delusions. Often, what we gained with great effort in war, we lost in peace. Thank God, Republika Srpska has endured for 33 years, continuing to thrive 30 years after the war and the signing of the Dayton Agreement.” Vukelić said.

He added that 13 years ago, he attended the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Kozara for the first time, at the National Theatre in Belgrade, on the initiative of Borislav Mikelić, who is a child of Kozara and /a member/ of the Kozara Association in Belgrade.

“Thanks to the agreement between President Milorad Dodik and President Aleksandar Vučić, everything has been on an upward trajectory over these years. I am a child from Croatia, from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, and I remember the earlier years, from 2000 to 2012, when we gathered in Serbia like orphans at commemorations of Serbian suffering. It was the last or just a side note in the news, and no one paid attention to Serbian suffering and Serbian pain,” emphasized Vukelić, adding that this significant change must be welcomed.

He emphasized that the entire Republika Srpska is soaked not only in tears but also in the blood and lives of so many innocent children.

"Are all these children, killed on Kozara, all the children killed in the recent Homeland War — Slobodan Stojanović from the Bratunac area, Pavle and Petar Golubović, brothers who were murdered in a terrible, monstrous way, so terrible that I simply don’t dare and don’t have the strength to even recount it — are we, the descendants of all these people, capable of being genocidal?" Vukelić asked.

He stated that every innocent victim, including those among other peoples, is tragic and must be mourned.

“We Serbs are a historic people, small in number but great in our deeds and history. As a historic people, we must learn lessons from that history. Throughout history, we have always been on the right side, in the First and Second World Wars, and in these recent wars. We have selflessly given and died, giving freedom to other peoples, only to often, almost always, receive a knife in the back from them,” Vukelić concluded.

The guest speeches were preceded by a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial complex on Mrakovica.