What PM said at WW2 memorial: Full text of speech

BELGRADE The Tanjug news agency on Monday published the entire text of the speech given on Sunday by PM Ivica Dacic at a memorial site in western Serbia. Dacic visited Draginac on the anniversary of mass executions of Serbian civilians by the occupying German Nazi forces, which took place during the Second World War. What PM said at WW2 memorial: Full text of speech The state news agency said that "due to the fact the speech has had differing interpretations, which changed the essence of his message", they decided to publish it "in its entirety". The B92 website in Serbian originally ran the Tanjug news agency report under the headline, "Criminals won't let us join the EU". This headline and the content of the article were edited after our journalists had access to the video of the prime minister's speech. Tanjug on Monday also apologized for the original version of the report it carried, saying that it in the meanwhile established that some parts of it "did not correspond to the premier's address". The full text of the speech: "There are days that are bitter with memories. A place like this one, where the terrible burden of human suffering is hard to shake. This is a moment when our thoughts go out to those who vanished in a single day, a moment of bitter memory, dark and familiar. This is a day which we experience both as a day and as a symbol of great loss. A constant reminder and testimony of the madness which threatened to overpower humaneness, compassion and understanding. On this day in 1941, Nazi occupying forces carried out the first and one of the biggest mass liquidations in our territory during the entire Second World War. In just a few hours on that terrible day, 2,950 residents of Draginac and nearby villages died. We are standing next to a monument to innocent victims who have not been immortalized in poems like (Desanka Maksimovic's) A Bloody Fairytale. More than seven decades after this disastrous day, poems have still not been written about them. Their tragedy and suffering have not become sufficiently entwined in our national collective memory. The victims from Draginac have been forgotten. The children who died in this quiet town, their parents, and neighbors have disappeared from our memory. My address is dedicated to the children, women, men, the elderly, the innocent victims, all those who are gone and who left behind dreams of unfulfilled love, cut short. As a parent, I dedicate these words first and foremost to the children. The children taken away from us by an inhumane hand. The children put to sleep at harmless play, at school or on the doorsteps of their homes. Today, I want to recall to our common memory those sweet children's faces, guileless eyes, smiles, the desire for life which was snuffed out that day. If they had lived, some of them might have been sitting among us today, grey like some of the proud heads I see before me. They would be our parents, our grandfathers, grandmothers. Sadly, their lives ended brutally. They have remained petrified in a terrible time we have heard about from our elders. Let us remember all those killed on their doorstep, in the field, by the baby crib, let us look at old photographs, take a peak into old chests, where we will find a completely forgotten testimony of the lives of those who are no longer here. People of Serbia, there are days in life whose significance and symbolism leave few indifferent. One of them is October 14. On that day, our common ancestors faced the fateful trial of suffering, torture and death. It was a date of utter negation of reason, humanity and feeling. Turning them over now to our never forgotten and renewed memory, I ask you to keep the message of this gathering alive, and relay it in full to everyone - your loved ones, your children, parents, all of Serbia. We cannot allow ourselves to forget a victim. Not only because of the human obligation to remember those tragically killed, but also because of our duty to provide full and accurate knowledge and memory of what happened in the past to the generations to come. We must not forget the victims, because I believe that today we need not only remember, but also be proud of the fight against fascism we fought in World War Two. In an era of forgetting and negating everything in our past, someone probably wants to erase the tragedy that we experienced in World War One and World War Two. I will remind you that in the coming years, we must recall the tragic events of a century ago. In World War One, Serbia lost almost a half of its male population. In World War Two, Serbia again had an enormous number of casualties. Not only in the territory of today's Serbia - Serbs died across the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Today, after the genocide we suffered in the two world wars for being on the right side of the international community, I think Serbia has done absolutely nothing to deserve to have itself and its interests treated unfairly by the international community, because Serbia has always been on the side of those fighting against fascism and genocidal policy, such as the one exhibited here in Draginac. Immediately after World War Two, those who committed this crime started building a new Europe. We also believe that Serbia has a right to another chance and this is why we must not only remember, but constantly highlight the victims we had, because our victims have been forgotten, because history has been twisted and the nations which were defeated in World War One and World War Two have now become more important factors in the Balkans than Serbia and the Serbian people. Therefore, I wish to make it clear that those who lost their lives here did not lose them on the frontline, did not die in battle against the Germans, but were innocent victims, women, children and the elderly. They and all those who died in World War Two weaved their lives into the new Europe and the European Union, where now, in order to join, we are given the requirement of allowing the completion of what was started in the first and second world wars, and that is to reduce Serbia in size as much as possible. We cannot allow for these victims to have been in vain, and that is why the Serbian government and Serbia will do everything so that the truth about Serbia and our national interest is protected in a peaceful way, but most importantly, we have to realize that in the battle for human values, for European values, Serbia has given much more than some other countries which became EU members very easily and which to this day say that Serbia does not belong there, which threaten us every day saying that Serbia has to recognize Kosovo's independence and that we should require visas again and everything else that is not part of a serious political agenda. I want to tell them all that Serbia does not ask for anything and you need not give it anything. Serbia has earned a place in Europe because it worked to create Europe here as well. That is why through our remembrance, our determined stand not to let this be covered by the darkness of history, we show our willingness to fight for the ideals of liberty, equality and respect, together and persistently, because 2950 victims, innocent victims, if they belonged to another nation, there would be stories and legends about it, and maybe a memorial day would be declared in some countries, as it has happened concerning some other events. We have to hold our victims in higher esteem and, of course, we have to forgive those who committed the crime. We cannot forget, the international community and they are (responsible) for all this that happened, and the only thing we do not agree to is that their victims are worth more than ours. In order to fight all this that I have spoken about, we must never forget our history. We should turn towards the future, but learn from history. Everything should be done in order to avoid wars and that is why we want to settle all disputes peacefully, but I ask all of Serbia to be more respectful of the victims it suffered in the battle for freedom and to use the years ahead of us to make sure some countries do not rewrite the events of 100 years ago, because even World War One can be interpreted in a way that suits someone, as the result of the folly of someone who assassinated Franz Ferdinand, while not mentioning that it was caused by the historical circumstances that led to both Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina to rise up against the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is why it is important to make it known who was on whose side. We were on the side of truth and justice and we expect that those whose side we were on to be on the side of truth and justice today regarding Serbia. Thank you, and I wish that these victims never be forgotten. May their memory live on." Ivica Dacic (Tanjug) Tanjug

What PM said at WW2 memorial: Full text of speech

The state news agency said that "due to the fact the speech has had differing interpretations, which changed the essence of his message", they decided to publish it "in its entirety".

The B92 website in Serbian originally ran the Tanjug news agency report under the headline, "Criminals won't let us join the EU". This headline and the content of the article were edited after our journalists had access to the video of the prime minister's speech.

Tanjug on Monday also apologized for the original version of the report it carried, saying that it in the meanwhile established that some parts of it "did not correspond to the premier's address".

The full text of the speech:

"There are days that are bitter with memories. A place like this one, where the terrible burden of human suffering is hard to shake.

This is a moment when our thoughts go out to those who vanished in a single day, a moment of bitter memory, dark and familiar.

This is a day which we experience both as a day and as a symbol of great loss. A constant reminder and testimony of the madness which threatened to overpower humaneness, compassion and understanding. On this day in 1941, Nazi occupying forces carried out the first and one of the biggest mass liquidations in our territory during the entire Second World War. In just a few hours on that terrible day, 2,950 residents of Draginac and nearby villages died. We are standing next to a monument to innocent victims who have not been immortalized in poems like (Desanka Maksimović's) A Bloody Fairytale. More than seven decades after this disastrous day, poems have still not been written about them. Their tragedy and suffering have not become sufficiently entwined in our national collective memory.

The victims from Draginac have been forgotten. The children who died in this quiet town, their parents, and neighbors have disappeared from our memory. My address is dedicated to the children, women, men, the elderly, the innocent victims, all those who are gone and who left behind dreams of unfulfilled love, cut short. As a parent, I dedicate these words first and foremost to the children. The children taken away from us by an inhumane hand. The children put to sleep at harmless play, at school or on the doorsteps of their homes.

Today, I want to recall to our common memory those sweet children's faces, guileless eyes, smiles, the desire for life which was snuffed out that day. If they had lived, some of them might have been sitting among us today, grey like some of the proud heads I see before me. They would be our parents, our grandfathers, grandmothers. Sadly, their lives ended brutally. They have remained petrified in a terrible time we have heard about from our elders. Let us remember all those killed on their doorstep, in the field, by the baby crib, let us look at old photographs, take a peak into old chests, where we will find a completely forgotten testimony of the lives of those who are no longer here.

People of Serbia, there are days in life whose significance and symbolism leave few indifferent. One of them is October 14. On that day, our common ancestors faced the fateful trial of suffering, torture and death. It was a date of utter negation of reason, humanity and feeling. Turning them over now to our never forgotten and renewed memory, I ask you to keep the message of this gathering alive, and relay it in full to everyone - your loved ones, your children, parents, all of Serbia.

We cannot allow ourselves to forget a victim. Not only because of the human obligation to remember those tragically killed, but also because of our duty to provide full and accurate knowledge and memory of what happened in the past to the generations to come.

We must not forget the victims, because I believe that today we need not only remember, but also be proud of the fight against fascism we fought in World War Two. In an era of forgetting and negating everything in our past, someone probably wants to erase the tragedy that we experienced in World War One and World War Two.

I will remind you that in the coming years, we must recall the tragic events of a century ago. In World War One, Serbia lost almost a half of its male population. In World War Two, Serbia again had an enormous number of casualties. Not only in the territory of today's Serbia - Serbs died across the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Today, after the genocide we suffered in the two world wars for being on the right side of the international community, I think Serbia has done absolutely nothing to deserve to have itself and its interests treated unfairly by the international community, because Serbia has always been on the side of those fighting against fascism and genocidal policy, such as the one exhibited here in Draginac. Immediately after World War Two, those who committed this crime started building a new Europe. We also believe that Serbia has a right to another chance and this is why we must not only remember, but constantly highlight the victims we had, because our victims have been forgotten, because history has been twisted and the nations which were defeated in World War One and World War Two have now become more important factors in the Balkans than Serbia and the Serbian people.

Therefore, I wish to make it clear that those who lost their lives here did not lose them on the frontline, did not die in battle against the Germans, but were innocent victims, women, children and the elderly. They and all those who died in World War Two weaved their lives into the new Europe and the European Union, where now, in order to join, we are given the requirement of allowing the completion of what was started in the first and second world wars, and that is to reduce Serbia in size as much as possible.

We cannot allow for these victims to have been in vain, and that is why the Serbian government and Serbia will do everything so that the truth about Serbia and our national interest is protected in a peaceful way, but most importantly, we have to realize that in the battle for human values, for European values, Serbia has given much more than some other countries which became EU members very easily and which to this day say that Serbia does not belong there, which threaten us every day saying that Serbia has to recognize Kosovo's independence and that we should require visas again and everything else that is not part of a serious political agenda.

I want to tell them all that Serbia does not ask for anything and you need not give it anything. Serbia has earned a place in Europe because it worked to create Europe here as well. That is why through our remembrance, our determined stand not to let this be covered by the darkness of history, we show our willingness to fight for the ideals of liberty, equality and respect, together and persistently, because 2950 victims, innocent victims, if they belonged to another nation, there would be stories and legends about it, and maybe a memorial day would be declared in some countries, as it has happened concerning some other events. We have to hold our victims in higher esteem and, of course, we have to forgive those who committed the crime. We cannot forget, the international community and they are (responsible) for all this that happened, and the only thing we do not agree to is that their victims are worth more than ours.

In order to fight all this that I have spoken about, we must never forget our history. We should turn towards the future, but learn from history. Everything should be done in order to avoid wars and that is why we want to settle all disputes peacefully, but I ask all of Serbia to be more respectful of the victims it suffered in the battle for freedom and to use the years ahead of us to make sure some countries do not rewrite the events of 100 years ago, because even World War One can be interpreted in a way that suits someone, as the result of the folly of someone who assassinated Franz Ferdinand, while not mentioning that it was caused by the historical circumstances that led to both Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina to rise up against the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is why it is important to make it known who was on whose side. We were on the side of truth and justice and we expect that those whose side we were on to be on the side of truth and justice today regarding Serbia.

Thank you, and I wish that these victims never be forgotten. May their memory live on."