Antic: Chetnik symbols should be at parade

BELGRADE - Serbian president's adviser Oliver Antic has said that a military parade is an appropriate way to honour all the victims of the anti-fascist struggle, regardless of their ideology.

Justice demands that Chetnik symbols also be present at the parade, because they had a part in the victory against fascism, he told the daily Danas.

"There is plenty of evidence supporting this. Colonel Albert Seitz, the head of US intelligence service at the time, wrote in his report that Draza Mihajlovic's guerilla troops had cut off Rommel's supply, preventing him from taking Alexandria, which had a huge impact on the course of World War Two," Antic stated.

Commenting on Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic's statement that there will be no Chetnik symbols at the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of Belgrade's liberation, scheduled for October 16, Antic said that all those people had simply fought to survive, and that politics and ideology had come later.

There will be no room for Chetnik symbols at the military parade because Draza Mihajlovic's rehabilitation has not been completed, Antic noted, adding that it should happen in the next two months, so that their symbols would be present at some future parades.

However, the parade is not the time for criticism, because it is a commemoration of all the victims.

"In macro terms, the Chetniks, Partisans, Ukrainians and Russians were all on the same side," he stated.

Photo Tanjug/S. Radovanovic (archive)