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Tadic, Medvedev attend solemn academy “Belgrade Remembers”

Belgrade, 20 October 2009

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attended tonight at the Sava Centre the solemn academy “Belgrade Remembers”, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade.

PHOTOS: The solemn academy “Belgrade Remembers” - download original size photos

Tadic, Medvedev attend solemn academy “Belgrade Remembers”

At the beginning of the ceremony, actor Svetozar Cvetkovic said that October 20, 1944 was a great victory for civilisation that changed the face of the world.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said in his address to participants of the solemn academy that the Serbian state has cherished the anti-fascist tradition in both world wars.

Serbia fought with great sacrifices for freedom and human rights and all the values on which the modern European civilisation rests, he stated.

Tadic stressed that the battle for Belgrade in the Second World War and the victory over fascism is the greatest achievement in Serbian-Russian history, in which the two peoples made huge sacrifices fighting for human dignity and against evil.

It is for the sake of the future that we must look back and remember the common struggle against fascism and keep this experience from oblivion of history and keep it for all those who today glorify the idea of fascism, Tadic said.

The Serbian President said that Serbia and Russia have the best friendly relations and that the two countries have no open issues.

He noted that Serbia wishes to upgrade cooperation with Russia to an even more intensive level.

Serbia today is a country that is being built and reformed on its way towards full EU membership. Serbia is now an open democratic and tolerant society, a legal state strongly opposed to violence, political extremism and racial and religious intolerance, said Tadic.

Tadic said that in Serbia there is no place for those who advocate violence, and that Serbia will fight for Kosovo-Metohija with peaceful and democratic means.

Serbia rejects any kind of threat of force in conflicts between states and peoples, but it also rejects any threat to its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Tadic said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that two peoples are connected by their glorious history, spiritual values, brotherhood and the wish to live in harmony and defend each other.

He recalled of the great sacrifices that the two countries gave in the bloodiest war in history.

Medvedev thanked his Serbian friends for the careful attention for the fallen Soviet soldiers who gave lives for the struggle for the liberation of Belgrade.

We are obliged to preserve the memory and the truth of what happened, especially now when there are attempts to change history and distort the essence, where the invaders appear as saviors, executioners as patriots and liberators as occupiers, Medvedev said.

Medvedev reiterated that Russia will remain firm in its positions toward important issues, such as Kosovo and defence of territorial integrity of Serbia.

Relations between Serbia and Russia are filled with mutual trust and respect, said Medvedev and expressed confidence that the joint plans and projects will be carried out successfully.

The solemn academy “Belgrade Remembers” was held in the memory of the fallen Yugoslav partisans and Soviet soldiers in the October 1944 operations for the liberation of Belgrade from the fascist occupiers.

The ceremony was attended by Serbian Assembly Chair Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic, Foreign Ministers of Russia and Serbia Sergey Lavrov and Vuk Jeremic and Serbian Minister of Defence Dragan Sutanovac.

Also attending were Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije Radovic, Reis Ulema of the Islamic Community in Serbia Adem Zilkic, Mufti Muhammad Jusufspahic, representatives of the Russian state delegation, as well as public and cultural figures of Belgrade and Serbia.