DODIK: OPERATION HALYARD - PROOF OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN SERBIAN AND AMERICAN PEOPLES

BOLJANIĆ, SEPTEMBER 21 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said today that the Serbian people should be proud of the Halyard operation and that it should be recorded in history.

Dodik said that a commemoration for the Halyard operation is held every year in Boljanić near Doboj, which is proof of friendship between the Serbian and American peoples and a legacy of freedom fought for by the Serbian people. “At that time, if you were an Allied pilot, mostly American, and you went down in this area, your life would be saved. If you happened to fall on those hills up there, you would be handed over to the Germans, who would execute you. That is why the Serbian people had a connection with the forces that at the time liberated the world from fascism and German Nazism,” Dodik told reporters in Boljanić before the start of the commemoration of the 81st anniversary of the Halyard operation. He emphasized that during the Halyard operation, the Serbian people in Boljanić acted in the same way as in Serbia, demonstrating the freedom-loving spirit of the Serbian nation. Dodik said that Chetnik units of the Ravna Gora movement were stationed in this area and carried out their duties well, which is why it is not surprising that General Dragoljub Mihailović was posthumously awarded by former U.S. President Harry Truman. According to him, after the First World War, only two flags were flown above the White House, one of which was the Serbian flag, which shows that the Serbs have consistently been on the right side of history. Dodik noted that during the 1990s, the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton did not have a clearly defined position on these events, and emphasized that this was a mistake that now needs to be corrected with the administration of President Donald Trump. "Whenever the Serbian people and the American people shared the same interests in the Balkans, there was peace, and it should be that way in the future as well," Dodik said. Dodik announced that next year, the cornerstone should be laid within this complex in Boljanić, and a dignified monument should be built to commemorate the rescue of American pilots. He added that a space for paragliders should be organized here, where competitions in this sport would also be held every year, during this event. Dodik said that the complex will be built in cooperation with the Republika Srpska authorities, the local authorities of Doboj, and American partners. Today, Boljanić near Doboj marks the 81st anniversary of the rescue of Allied pilots from Mount Ozren during the Halyard operation, carried out by members of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland.