Mayor to Propose a Monument to Draza Mihailovic to be Built in Downtown Belgrade

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic said on Sept. 16 that he planned to launch an initiative for a monument to General Dragoljub Mihailovic to be built in downtown Belgrade.

"I believe that he deserves a monument in Belgrade, in a dignified place in the center of the capital. My preferred location is the Terazije Terrace Park, below the Terazije Fountain. I expect support from the democratically oriented opposition," said Sapic, adding that a commission for monuments and street names should be in place by the end of the day.

"I cannot influence it publicly, nor can the City of Belgrade legally affect it, but I believe that moving the grave of Josip Broz from the Museum of Yugoslavia is an extremely important matter for the Serbian people, and for the future of this country. It is equally important to relocate the monuments to Mosa Pijade, Ivo Lola Ribar, Djuro Djakovic, and Ivan Milutinovic from the Kalemegdan Fortress, which is our greatest cultural heritage," Sapic said.

The Belgrade mayor underlined "it has very little to do with communism" and that the Ministry of Culture was to make those decisions. "We are not barbarians, unlike those same Bolsheviks and communists who scattered the bones of General Draza Mihailović, so we don't even know where they are to this day. That is why we will find a new place for the people whose memorials will be relocated," said Sapic.