SERB PEOPLE PROUD OF DOCTOR MIODRAG LAZIĆ'S LEGACY

BIJELJINA, APRIL 17 /SRNA/ – Doctor Miodrag Lazić was a great man, a Serb, a patriot, and a physician, and the Serb people should be proud to have had him, said Republika Srpska Minister of Labor and Veterans’ and Disability Protection Radan Ostojić.

Ahead of the screening in Bijeljina of the documentary film "War Surgeon", dedicated to Lazić, Ostojić emphasized that it is an honor and privilege to watch a film about a man who devoted a significant part of his life to the Serb people during the most difficult years of the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. “A proven patriot, and the Serb people should look up to him. We are proud of him and we need more people like him,” Ostojić told reporters. He reminded that Lazić's wartime story began in 1991 in the Republic of Srpska Krajina, where he went to help his people, later participated in the breakthrough of the corridor to Serbia, and then came to Sarajevo, where he remained until 1996. Ostojić said that during that time Lazić performed more than 3,500 surgical interventions, often operating on Serb fighters under tents and in open fields. He added that Lazić did not treat only Serb fighters but also those on the "opposing side". “We can be proud of his path, and generations can look up to him,” Ostojić said. He noted that the strong turnout in Bijeljina for the film reflects the importance of Lazić's legacy, thanking the production team for ensuring that such a humanitarian figure is not forgotten. “Forgetting is the greatest enemy of a people,” Ostojić said. He added that he himself is a severely wounded war veteran and that many in the audience were former patients of Dr. Lazić who remain grateful for having survived thanks to him. He also said it is an honor that a large number of Sarajevo Serbs, after their exodus, found their new home in Bijeljina. "By coming here, they brought with them the legend of Dr. Lazić, because he saved the wounded on the Sarajevo battlefield", Ostojić said.