Pyotr Tolstoy: Serbia Piously Preserves Historical Memory

On October 20, Belgrade hosts events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Serbia's liberation from fascism. Parliamentary delegations from the CSTO Member States and representatives of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Secretariat are also taking part in the events. 

at the opening of the exhibition “Military Diplomacy on the Path to Freedom”, Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, emphasized that Serbia could not have conducted the Belgrade operation without the Red Army. 

Mr. Vučić read his speech in Russian out of respect for the Soviet soldiers who liberated the city.

Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, also spoke at the ceremony.

“Despite major external pressure, Serbia piously preserves historical memory. Every Serb knows well whose troops liberated the country. Let me remind you that only two nations in Europe - Russia and Serbia - fought the enemy from the first days of the war until the very end. Russians and Serbs were the only two nations where a hundred people were shot for every German killed. No other country experienced that”, noted Pyotr Tolstoy.

For reference. The exhibition “Military Diplomacy on the Path to Freedom” shows and describes military action on the eve of and during the Belgrade operation. Visitors can see how the event was covered at the time, both by Soviet and Yugoslav press. The exhibition was organized by the Russian Embassy in Serbia, the Russian Scientific Institute, the Adligat Library and the Russian House in Belgrade.

As you may recall, the CSTO parliamentarians urge the international community to consolidate their efforts to efficiently fight against the revival of Nazism. In particular, the CSTO PA Address to the parliaments of the Member States of the Council of Europe in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism in World War II says: “It is our common duty to preserve the memory of the Great Victory, which unites all the peoples that defeated Nazism together, to honor the memory of those without whom the Victory would have been impossible, who gave their lives in the name of the freedom of peoples, for the sake of your future”.