Nikolić says "Serbia will not give up on truth"

BELGRADE President Tomislav Nikolic penned an article for the Belgrade-based daily Politika, to address the assassination in Sarajevo that happened almost a century ago. Declaring the assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand a terrorist act is another attempt at putting unfair and unjustified blame on Serbia, but Serbia will not give up on the truth, he wrote. Nikolic says "Serbia will not give up on truth" "Reconciliation, which is insisted on with every right nowadays, cannot once again be used to tread on small nations. There must be no insistence on forcible changes to history. There can be no reconciliation at the expense of truth and justice," Nikolic said. Lately, the voices of those who put the First World War in the context of present day can be heard, describing the assassination of Ferdinand by member of Young Bosnia Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo in June 1914 as an act of terrorism, he said. "We cannot remain indifferent to that. It seems that this is another attempt at putting unfair and unjustified blame on Serbia, which has caused worldwide trouble more than once in the past. It opens up an opportunity for the real culprits to wash their hands clean and get the blame off their back," he stressed. "Are the victors going to allow a revision of history by inventing a terrorist act as the reason for the start of the First World War? Have the sacrifices of the righteous fight for freedom been in vain? We have no right to remain silent, even if that lie has but one voice," Nikolic pointed out. The First World War was preceded by the Balkans being pulled into the battle for a new division of colonies between the European powers, he explained. "The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose goal was for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to take over territories belonging to the Ottoman empire, was the introduction into the First World War," Nikolic noted. If the assassination committed by Young Bosnia was the terrorist act that sparked the conflict, why did it not break out after the attempted assassination of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, Nikolic remarked. "A memorial was placed in Venice to Oberdan, the would-be assassin who was sentenced to death by the Austrian authorities... Seeing as the occupation forces were the same (Vienna completed the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908), Young Bosnia was modelled after Young Italy," he said. "It was not only the Orthodox Christian Serbs who pursued Young Bosnia's goals, of which freedom for Bosnia was topmost," Nikolic stated. History criticizes some and glorifies others, depending on the will of the victors, he noted. The alleged "terrorist act" by Princip was not the reason for the war, the president wrote, and said this was "documented convincingly by German historian Fritz Fischer in his famous book War of Illusions." Tomislav Nikolic (L) is seen during a gathering on Monday to mark Armistice Day (Tanjug) Politika Tanjug

Nikolić says "Serbia will not give up on truth"

"Reconciliation, which is insisted on with every right nowadays, cannot once again be used to tread on small nations. There must be no insistence on forcible changes to history. There can be no reconciliation at the expense of truth and justice," Nikolić said.

Lately, the voices of those who put the First World War in the context of present day can be heard, describing the assassination of Ferdinand by member of Young Bosnia Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo in June 1914 as an act of terrorism, he said.

"We cannot remain indifferent to that. It seems that this is another attempt at putting unfair and unjustified blame on Serbia, which has caused worldwide trouble more than once in the past. It opens up an opportunity for the real culprits to wash their hands clean and get the blame off their back," he stressed.

"Are the victors going to allow a revision of history by inventing a terrorist act as the reason for the start of the First World War? Have the sacrifices of the righteous fight for freedom been in vain? We have no right to remain silent, even if that lie has but one voice," Nikolić pointed out.

The First World War was preceded by the Balkans being pulled into the battle for a new division of colonies between the European powers, he explained.

"The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose goal was for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to take over territories belonging to the Ottoman empire, was the introduction into the First World War," Nikolić noted.

If the assassination committed by Young Bosnia was the terrorist act that sparked the conflict, why did it not break out after the attempted assassination of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, Nikolić remarked.

"A memorial was placed in Venice to Oberdan, the would-be assassin who was sentenced to death by the Austrian authorities... Seeing as the occupation forces were the same (Vienna completed the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908), Young Bosnia was modelled after Young Italy," he said.

"It was not only the Orthodox Christian Serbs who pursued Young Bosnia's goals, of which freedom for Bosnia was topmost," Nikolić stated.

History criticizes some and glorifies others, depending on the will of the victors, he noted.

The alleged "terrorist act" by Princip was not the reason for the war, the president wrote, and said this was "documented convincingly by German historian Fritz Fischer in his famous book War of Illusions."