Military parade ‘March of the Victorious’

BELGRADE - A military parade to celebrate seventy years since the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in World War II, attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Russian President Vladimir Putin, began with a gun salute and the sounds of the Serbian anthem in the afternoon on Thursday.

The military parade, dubbed ‘March of the Victorious', is being held in Belgrade for first time after 29 years, at the Palace of Serbia and on the Danube River, with the participation of about 4,500 members of the Serbian Armed Forces (VS) and attendance of a large number of citizens.

The parade is being attended by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, ministers in the Serbian government, former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia prime minister Momir Bulatovic, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali, dignitaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, representatives of the diplomatic corps and a number of public figures.

The participants in the parade and the people gathered will be addressed by Nikolic and Putin, who was greeted with ovations upon arrival at the Palace of Serbia.

After the speech of the two presidents, paratroopers of the VS Special Brigade will perform a parachute landing bearing country and VS flags in the area around the Eternal Flame monument at Belgrade's Usce park.

The parade, taking place for the first time since 1985, will utilize and showcase more than 300 military vehicles and military equipment items.

The parade will also feature participation by Russia's famous Strizhy (Swifts) air force team, whose pilots will fly five Mig-29s in an aerobatic demonstration to round off the event.

Besides motor vehicles...