Varvarin
Encyclopedia
Varvarin is a small town and municipality in the Šumadija
region of central Serbia
. Population of the town is 2,133, and population of the municipality is 17,772. It is part of the Rasina District
of Serbia.
, was erected in 1910.
. The area around the bridge was filled with hundreds of people celebrating an Orthodox
holiday in and around the nearby church, a market place and a fairground. No precautions against air attacks had been taken, as the town is far from Kosovo (approx. 200 km), the aged and narrow bridge was considered insignificant and no military installations were to be found within a radius of 20 km. Ten civilians were killed and 17 severely injured, some with permanent disabilities, in two attack waves a few minutes apart. Most of the casualties occurred in the second wave, when people had rushed to the bridge to help those wounded in the initial wave.
To this date, NATO has refused to release further details of the airstrike – specifically the nationality of the attacking planes. In a public statement made by NATO spokesman Jamie Shea
on 31 May 1999, he declared the Varvarin bridge a legitimate military target. No explanations or other statements have been issued by NATO since then.
The airstrike gave rise to a lawsuit against the German government (one of the NATO countries involved in the conflict). The case was decided against the Serbian plaintiffs, but it is under appeal to Germany's highest court.
Šumadija
Šumadija is a geographical region in Serbia. The area is heavily covered with forests, hence the name...
region of central Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Population of the town is 2,133, and population of the municipality is 17,772. It is part of the Rasina District
Rasina District
The Rasina District expands in the central part of the Republic of Serbia. It has a population of 240,463...
of Serbia.
Features
The town is notable as being the site of an 1810 battle between the Turks and a combined Russian and Serbian army. A statue to the Russian commander, Joseph Cornelius O'RourkeJoseph Cornelius O'Rourke
Count Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke was a Russian nobleman and military leader who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He is also particularly well remembered in Serbia where he led a combined Russian and Serb army to defeat the Turks at Varvarin in 1810...
, was erected in 1910.
NATO attack
On a clear Sunday, 30 May 1999, shortly after 1 p.m., a bridge crossing the Velika Morava river in Varvarin was struck by laser-guided bombs fired by one or two low-flying NATO F-16 warplanes conducting attack operations in the Kosovo warKosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
. The area around the bridge was filled with hundreds of people celebrating an Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
holiday in and around the nearby church, a market place and a fairground. No precautions against air attacks had been taken, as the town is far from Kosovo (approx. 200 km), the aged and narrow bridge was considered insignificant and no military installations were to be found within a radius of 20 km. Ten civilians were killed and 17 severely injured, some with permanent disabilities, in two attack waves a few minutes apart. Most of the casualties occurred in the second wave, when people had rushed to the bridge to help those wounded in the initial wave.
To this date, NATO has refused to release further details of the airstrike – specifically the nationality of the attacking planes. In a public statement made by NATO spokesman Jamie Shea
Jamie Shea
Jamie Patrick Shea is Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium....
on 31 May 1999, he declared the Varvarin bridge a legitimate military target. No explanations or other statements have been issued by NATO since then.
The airstrike gave rise to a lawsuit against the German government (one of the NATO countries involved in the conflict). The case was decided against the Serbian plaintiffs, but it is under appeal to Germany's highest court.
External links
- Direkcija.org.rs - Urban Planning and Construction
- Varvarin.org.yu - Official web presentation of Varvarin city
- Varvarin.net - Unofficial but interesting web presentation of Varvarin, small city near river Velika Morava
- 2003-10-15 Deutsche Welle World Service: Serbian Families Sue Germans Over NATO Bombing
- 1999-05-31 The Irish Times: "NATO bombers hit town `full of people'"
- 1999-05-31 BBC news report
- Photos of the effects of NATO bombing on Varvarin bridge