BUDIMIR: SRPSKA EXISTS THANKS TO ITS HEROES

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 1 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Minister of Internal Affairs Željko Budimir said today that Srpska was born out of a grueling struggle and exists thanks to its heroes, both the fallen and the living, as well as those who were left disabled.

“In that struggle, 13 members of the Sixth Detachment of the Special Police Brigade gave their lives for the creation of Republika Srpska. These were elite units on the front lines when they were needed most,” Budimir told reporters at the Training Center in Zalužani, Banja Luka, where the 33rd anniversary of the formation of this detachment was marked. He stated that today, members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs /MIA/ stand among the heroes of Srpska, and that this is the most important message of commemorating this and all other significant anniversaries. As he emphasized, these are not ordinary gatherings, but gatherings of ancestors and descendants who share the same mission. “They created Republika Srpska; we must preserve and strengthen it,” Budimir stressed. The president of the Veterans’ Association of the Sixth Detachment of the Special Police Brigade, Goran Sladojević, said that members of this unit served on battlefields across Republika Srpska. “We were deployed in the operational zones of the Herzegovina Corps, the Sarajevo-Romanija, and the First and Second Krajina Corps. Thirteen of our members gave their lives to lay the foundations of Republika Srpska, and 212 were wounded, some seriously,” Sladojević said, emphasizing that Republika Srpska and the memory of fallen colleagues must be preserved. He emphasized that young police officers must understand how Republika Srpska was defended and how its constitutional order is preserved. “These were difficult days, but we fulfilled our mission; we created and defended Srpska, and it endures to this day,” Sladojević stressed. The Sixth Detachment was among the elite special units, formed in 1992 in Banja Luka, and by 1995, a total of 511 members had served in its ranks. Of the 144 members of the Special Police Brigade who gave their lives for Republika Srpska, 13 were members of the Sixth Detachment. The detachment was awarded the Medal of Merit to the People, the Karađorđe Star of the First, Second, and Third Class, the Order of Miloš Obilić five times, and the Milan Tepić Medal six times. Members of this detachment fought on battlefields across Republika Srpska, with some of their notable actions including participation in the expansion of the Corridor, halting enemy advances at Alibegović Kosa on the Bihać front, and evacuating civilians from Dvor na Uni.