CENTRAL MEMORIAL TO STAND AS PERMANENT TESTIMONY TO PRICE OF FREEDOM

BANJA LUKA, JANUARY 8 /SRNA/ – President of the Republic Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians Isidora Graorac said today in Banja Luka that the Central Memorial to fallen soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska will permanently testify to the high price of Serb freedom.

"This monument should be a place where every foreigner who comes to our city must be made aware of our suffering, our history, and of the soldiers who were killed, tortured, massacred and went missing," Graorac said. She stated that the monument is proof of the Serbs’ struggle for freedom and their aspiration for peace. "The memorial will permanently remind us of the fallen Serb soldiers in the Defensive-Patriotic War," Graorac said at the unveiling of the Central Memorial, recalling that more than 24,000 soldiers gave their lives so that the Serb people could live on their own land today. She added that, by building the memorial, Banja Luka and Republika Srpska are sending a message that no fallen or missing soldier or civilian, nor their families, must ever be forgotten. "We must not forget a single family tragedy, which will in this way be recorded as a historical fact and a reminder for future generations," Graorac emphasized. She stressed that the Central Memorial to fallen soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka will serve as a gathering place on the most significant dates in the history of Republika Srpska. "One of those dates is January 9 – Republic Day of Republika Srpska. We are happy to have it,2 Graorac said.