VUKELIĆ: NEW YORK EXHIBITION AIMS TO HIGHLIGHT SERB SUFFERING THROUGHOUT 20TH CENTURY

BELGRADE, JULY 12 /SRNA/ – The truth about the suffering of Serbs in the 20th century, which was hidden for years, is reaching the world, and a significant contribution to this is being made by a travelling multimedia exhibition in New York about the suffering of the Serbian people, organized by the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska, said Nikola Vukelić, State Secretary at Serbia's Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans' and Social Affairs.

"It is very important that the truth about the suffering of Serbs is presented to the world and that historical injustice toward the Serbian people is corrected. The Serbian people were always on the right side of history and fought alongside the Allies, including the Americans, against fascism," Vukelić told SRNA. He stressed that the Serb people had the misfortune in the late 1990s that the then US administration was extremely negatively disposed toward them, adding that facts and truth were of no interest because Serbs had been assigned the role of the villain. Vukelić said that Serbs paid a heavy price because of this, and assessed that it is evident that Washington's view of the Serb people is changing. "The major diplomatic offensive by the leadership and institutions of Republika Srpska has produced certain visible results, reflected in the change in the US administration's attitude toward Srpska," Vukelić stated. He pointed out that the exhibition about Serb suffering in New York is one in a series of good and carefully planned steps aimed at ensuring that the truth becomes known and that, based on historical facts, the Serb people can fight for their rights, including the right to exist in Republika Srpska. He emphasized that this right was absolutely threatened in the 1990s and called into question after the war due to a negative narrative about Serbs that exists among parts of the Western public. He believes that presenting Serb suffering in a modern way, as was done in New York, confirms the need to keep pace with the times and use all available technological possibilities. However, he added that the essence is for the truth to reach the eyes and ears of those who make decisions and shape global events. "In that regard, the visit of President Trump's adviser, Pastor Burns, to Bratunac and Kosovo and Metohija is of crucial importance and speaks of a change in US relations toward Serbs. However much that truth was hidden, it is now slowly coming to light, which is what we have always wanted and hoped for," Vukelić concluded. The Memorial Center of Republika Srpska has launched an international campaign in central New York titled "Learn About the Suffering of the Serb people," through which, for the first time in the United States, the suffering of the Serbian people from the Second World War to the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is being presented.