Trieste: Promotion of the book “Crimes - Kosovo, Silence and Memory“

The collection of three books “Crimes - Kosovo, Silence and Memory” by Roman journalist and writer Ms. Marilina Veca and Serbian writer and poet Mr. Veselin Dželetović was presented, in Italian and Serbian, in the bookshop Caffé San Marco in Trieste.

This collection tells about the crimes committed in Kosovo before the indifferent eyes of the international community.

In her address, Consul General Ms. Stojiljković thanked Marilina Veca for the commitment and courage she showed for the past 23 years of her life spent researching and recounting what she experienced and discovered while facing the tragic events that hit the suffering Serbian province, Kosovo and Metohija.   

Ms. Stojiljković also thanked the present professor of international politics, Mr. Stefan Pilot, who, like Marilina, dedicated his reputation, knowledge and most productive years to uncovering the truth about the events in the Balkans, as well as all the injustices that befell the Serbian people, in whom they had the greatest friends for life.

Later in the evening, the documentary film “Catastrophe, a view of Kosovo and Metohija” was projected, which Marilina Veca made with the director Alessandro Antonaroli in February 2008. This 25-minute film follows with special care the drama of the Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija and the images show real concentration camps in the open, in which non-Albanians cannot lead a normal existence, despite the presence of international contingents who were too often careless in protecting the oppressed Serbian civilians, and who did little to prevent devastation of their material possessions and desecration of their sanctuaries.  

On that occasion, the historical significance of Vidovdan was highlighted and it was pointed out that such day was a symbol of epochal turning points, not only for Serbia, but also for Europe and the rest of the world (from the battle on the Kosovo field against the Ottomans in 1389 to the assassination in Sarajevo of the Austrian Emperor Franz Ferdinand in 1914, which caused the start of the First World War). It was emphasised that in the center of the city of Trieste, at the Gopčević palace, there are 4 life-size statues that bear witness to the main Serbian heroes of the Kosovo battle (Tzar Lazar, Tzarina Milica, Miloš Obilić and the Kosovo maiden).

The event was promoted by the General Consulate of the Republic of Serbia, SOCM - Serbian Orthodox church municipalities, and three Serbian cultural associations in Trieste: “Pontes-Mostovi”, “Vuk Karadžić” and “ACGS - Serbian Youth Cultural Association”.