With the national anthem, a minute’s silence and the laying of wreaths, Smederevo today remembered those killed in the NATO bombing of the FRY, which began on 24 March 24 years ago. As a reminder, this operation, called “Merciful Angel”, lasted 78 days, and Smederevo was among the first cities to be bombed, when a military position in Vučak was hit in the evening. During the 78 days of NATO air strikes, 14 members of the army and police from Smederevo were killed: Branislav Nikolić, Radiša Đorđević, Mlađan Radojković, Adem Beriša, Staniša Pavić, Dragan Komarica, Robert Lajčak, Blagoje Radić, Ivica Serafinović “Civi”, Toplica Ilić, Bojan Radojković, Dejan Sedlarević, Miroslav Milošević and Milutin Dobrić.
On this occasion, the Mayor of Smederevo, Jovan Beč, addressed those gathered at the commemoration. “The reason we have gathered here today is very sad, hard and painful. On this day twenty-four years ago, in 1999 to be precise, the NATO aggressor’s attack on the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began. The targets were densely populated parts of cities, embassies, bridges, factories, hospitals, schools, nurseries and cultural and historical monuments; in a word, the people. It was a time of suffering and pain, but above all a brutal and horrific criminal attack on a small country that had hardly wronged anyone and had attacked no one’s territory. The bombing lasted a full 78 days, leaving thousands of victims behind it. Today is a day when two feelings intertwine: a feeling of sorrow, but also a feeling of pride. We are proud of the fact that, although we are a small nation, we have always defended our country, our cities and our homes. Here today, once again, in our own way and above all with dignity, we show that our victims have not been forgotten. We will not kneel and beg; we want to preserve the memory of those who died, and we will never forget what you did to our small country and our great people. That small country and its great people only wanted to be masters in their own land and to protect their homes,” Mayor Beč said in his address to those present.
Wreaths were laid at the memorial to the residents of Smederevo killed in the NATO aggression in 1999 by delegations of the Ministry of Defence (the State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Mile Jelić, and the Acting Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources, Siniša Radović), of the leadership of the City of Smederevo (the Mayor, Jovan Beč, and Maja Ćirković, Member of the City Council responsible for culture, tourism and information), of the Požarevac Army Garrison, the Smederevo Police Department, the families of the fallen, the SPS City Committee, the Association of Reserve Military Officers, SUBNOR, the Association of War Volunteers of 1912–1918 and Their Admirers, and the Association of Descendants of Warriors.
As a reminder, on the first day of the NATO air strikes the missile base in the village of Vučak near Smederevo was hit, and during the 11 weeks of bombing and of the “Merciful Angel” operation the targets included the bridge over the Danube, the Industrial Zone, the main transformer substation of the Smederevo Steelworks and the Jugopetrol facilities.
