Academic conference dedicated to 80th anniversary of anti-fascist struggle in Serbia

The international academic conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the anti-fascist struggle in the Second World War, hosted by the Union of War Veterans of the National Liberation Wars of Serbia (SUBNOR), has been officially opened in Belgrade’s “M” hotel. 



Greeting the participants and opening the academic conference, the President of the Union of War Veterans of the National Liberation Wars of Serbia, retired Major General Vidosav Kovačević, said that he was particularly glad that members of the Defence University and guests from Russia and Slovenia were participating in this activity, dedicated to a very important topic.    

- This year, SUBNOR has organized numerous activities to mark the 80th anniversary of the uprising in Serbia, entitled "Let There Be No More War." The major sponsor of the celebration of this important jubilee is the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and we have received support and help from the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, and the provincial, city and municipal authorities. There are two more activities left in our programme, and this two-day academic conference is one of them - said Kovačević.

The topic we have dedicated this academic conference to, deserves to be discussed scientifically, Kovačević explains, because it is important to point out who and how defeated Nazism and fascism, the greatest evils of the 20th century.  

On behalf of the Ministry of Defence, the Rector of the Defence University, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović, offered the panellists his best wishes for a successful conference, saying that military history does not only perform the functions of building morale and preserving tradition, but also provides a good starting point for dealing with the issues of modern society.



- As our Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić said, "Only ignorant and unreasonable people can think that the past is dead and separated from the present by an impenetrable wall. The truth is, on the contrary, that everything that man once thought, felt and did is inextricably linked to what we think, feel and do today." Shining the light of scientific truth on the events of the past means serving the present - the Rector of the Defence University emphasized. 

Within the context of the topic of the academic conference, General Radovanović also referred to the liberation traditions that the values ​​of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Serbian people are based on.

- One of the traditional values ​​that the Serbian Armed Forces are based on is anti-fascism and the national liberation struggle, because in the Second World War the Serbian people were one of the few European nations that adamantly and fiercely opposed fascism and made great sacrifices at the altar of the fatherland. That is why marking such anniversaries and collaborating with SUBNOR is extremely important for us - said General Radovanović.
 
The academic conference “The Second World War 1941 – 80 years since the beginning of the anti-fascist struggle in Serbia” has gathered numerous Serbian, Russian and Slovenian experts in historical and military sciences, who will have the opportunity to exchange opinions on this important topic during this two-day panel discussion.