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Vučić at the state commemoration for victims of the NATO aggression: They did not defeat us
https://lat.rt.rs/srbija-i-balkan/135161-dan-secanja-nato-bombardovanje-batajnica/
The anniversary of the beginning of the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was marked this year, as in previous years, in Batajnica, with a state commemorative event for the victims. In the speech by the President of Serbia, as well as in articles published during those days by pro-government tabloids, narratives were used that represent a combination of historical revisionism and the political instrumentalization of collective trauma.
“Sorrow and grief for the victims, for everything we went through, are always present, but regardless of everything we lost, they did not defeat us. We were attacked by forces—nineteen of them—with a population 67 times larger than ours and a territory 228 times greater. At the time, they were 518 times wealthier than us, and we did not bow our heads and we did not fall never to rise again,” Vučić stated. He added that since Thermopylae, never in history had such a small country stood up to such a great power.
In President Vučić’s speech, a well-known narrative is present: that Serbia was unjustly attacked, while the context of the events in Kosovo is not mentioned. The responsibility of the then-regime led by Slobodan Milošević, as well as the crimes committed against Albanian civilians, is entirely omitted. In this way, the NATO bombings are presented in a binary framework: innocent victim – Serbia, and evil aggressor – NATO.
Vučić stated that everything that happened in 1999 is not a defeat for the Serbian people, even though “we suffered heavy losses.” This highlights Serbia’s moral superiority despite the defeat. Through this narrative, a form of compensation is offered to Serbian citizens for what they endured.
In his speech, the President of Serbia read out the names of 79 children who died during the bombings. He went on to say that stability, peace, order, and the rule of law will be restored in Serbia, that violence should not be met with violence, and that a hand should be extended to those who do not understand that they have been manipulated—an allusion to the current political situation in the country.
By linking the NATO bombing to contemporary political challenges, Vučić uses historical trauma as a tool for mobilizing support and legitimizing his policies, which can be seen as a form of political instrumentalization of collective memory.
At the commemorative gathering, Patriarch Porfirije also spoke, interpreting the NATO bombing through a religious discourse as a spiritual battle between good and evil. He emphasized that “innocent blood was shed across the land that God gave us,” highlighting Christ’s commitment to stand by every innocent victim. In his speech, the dominant narrative of suffering as a spiritual victory for the Serbian people was also evident.
In an article published on the RT Balkan website, data from the Ministry of Defense are cited, indicating that during 78 days of aggression, 1,031 members of the military and police were killed, 2,500 civilians lost their lives, 6,000 were wounded, including 2,500 children.
The casualty figures from the NATO bombing have been manipulated for more than 20 years. Serbian state authorities claim, without evidence, that the death toll is 2,500, while some officials have been speaking for years about “thousands and thousands” of victims, further contributing to confusion.
According to the data from the Humanitarian Law Center, which, unlike state authorities, has compiled a list of victims, around 758 people were killed during the 78 days of NATO bombings (454 civilians and 204 military/police members). Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports about 500 civilian casualties across the entire Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The inflation of casualty numbers is used to strengthen anti-NATO and anti-Western narratives within the country, with a particular emphasis on the children who suffered, which evokes strong emotional reactions and fosters a sense of collective injustice toward the Serbian people.
Author: Sofija Popović
