15.09.2022.
President Vučić: This historic moment requires that we unite
Today, at the ceremony of marking the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag held in Bijeljina, President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić stated that the challenges we are faced with are not far less than the ones which stood in front of the generation that won the Great War, and that this historic moment requires from us to unite under the flag of peace and life.
In his address at the celebration in Bijeljina, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović PhD, President Vučić called for unity and expressed his gratitude to all those who understand the importance of that day for the Serbian people.- There was something stronger than divisions and regiments, more powerful than the weapons that day when the Serbian army started its breach of the Thessaloniki front, and there was unity of all those who were different, who were by no means the same, and those who had lost a little and those who had lost everything. The only thing that existed, and that was the only way and path to freedom, was to unite and move together as one - Vučić said adding that we have to unite the flags of our differences so that each of them can be free, and that we all can have our Serbia and Srpska.
Vučić noted that we finally have to understand our divisions, the narcissist but small differences wage the battles that no one can win, except those who wish for a weak and defeated Serbia and Srpska, and such Serbia will be a place where no one can be free and where it will be bad for everyone. He added that the essence of freedom is the right to diversity, to be distinctive, to think differently, to dream your own dreams, not somebody else’s, because it is the only way to stay together, united.- Today, when the whole world is divided, at the brink of a global cataclysm, we have to understand that we have no one but ourselves, and that we have to preserve and save ourselves, and the salvation requires the unity of all Serbs. That is why this day is so important, because we have to learn to respect ourselves, our flag and freedom. As much as we lack the unity, we have to insist on it - if we do not have it today, we will have it tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then we will have it the following day, if that is our oat and commitment - Vučić said.
He pointed out that Serbia is faced with immense challenges in terms of Kosovo and Metohija.
- They want it at any cost, to snatch it without asking, but they are rushing to finish what they started long time ago. I can tell them only one thing - you want to take our country, the length and breadth of it, but we will not give as much as an inch of it. That is what I want them to know. You may have the whatever force, and you may be powerful and great. We are small for you, we understand your strength, but there is something that you cannot beat - the justice, right, determination of a people to be the master of its own home and not to accept injustice, and there is also something that we all feel, and that is the unity of our people. A Serb in Semberija feels the same as the one in Pirot, and Kosovo and Metohija and wherever they live, because there are no differences between us whatsoever - said President Vučić.
The President shared his personal memory from the birthplace of his father in B&H when they as youths started a fire in the evening and set around it with the elders who would at some point say: “If only Serbia knew how much we love it and dream of it”.- If only you knew how much we love the Republic of Srpska and what it means to us, regardless of how much we respect the B&H and all other. Please know that. That is not the issue of political speeches, that is the matter of heart, of what you feel. No one can take that away - Vučić said stressing that it is important to preserve it, to work together and develop our relations, to respect each other.
President Vučić emphasised that on that they we did not mark just three words, three symbols, but the essence of existence.
- It is our flag, the most beautiful flag in the world, the one that shelters us all, that unites us all, that gives strength to all of us, which knows no obstacles. - It is freedom, that unifies all our differences as a guarantor of the right to different opinion, faith and belief. - It is the unity, the precondition of all conditions, the only way to preserve the flag, freedom and diversity. Those who put Serbia first, who cherish the freedom of others as much as their own, they will know to preserve their country, while everything else leads in the opposite direction, to the loss of people, territory, everything that we have built, to our new defeats and throwing away thousands of lives, before we understand that it is only united that we can breach fronts - the President of Serbia said.At the celebration dedicated to marking the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag, the President stated that peace, just like freedom, are protected under one flag.
- That is my fundamental calling, to get us together, to unite us, so that we can live freely in peace, and secure the future for our children. There is nothing that Serbia needs more today than the unity for a free country. There is no task more important than to protect our country together, and there is no work more urgent than to gather under the flag of freedom and peace, the red, blue and white one - Vučić stated.
He called upon everybody to take their flags and bring them under one, to unite them and make it visible that, when it came to freedom, there is nothing that can divide Serbia and Srpska.
- I am happy to see ever more people who think differently in Serbia and Srpska, who have shown by coming here that we can celebrate one holiday together, and that we can all stand under our Serbian flag - Vučić said expressing hope that, next time he came to official visit to Bijeljina, it would be by a new motorway built by Serbia and Srpska.
His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia Porfirije, congratulating the holiday to all citizens of Serbia and Republic of Srpska, pointed out that the flag is a visible symbol of unity and spiritual identity of our people.
- In principle, the flag is a symbol of unity and a sign of an essential profound spiritual identity of a people. Our flag is a visible sign of our unity. It guides us towards who and what we are as one nation, and towards the path we have taken and the one we should follow - sad the Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije stressing that the soul of the Serbian people is the Christian Orthodox faith.President of the Republic of Srpska Željka Cvijanović underlined that it was a day when we celebrated our identity and our founding values.
- The Republic of Srpska will feel safer and protected because Serbia exists which is the engine of development of our entire region, and the most important factor of peace and stability. The Institutions of the Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska are diligently working to create all necessary conditions for our national unity and cooperation to become fully prominent - Cvijanović concluded.Serbian member of the Presidency of B&H Milorad Dodik said that the unity of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska is reflected in every step and he underlined that the two countries are not bound by neighbourly, but brotherly love enjoyed by their citizens, of which they are proud.
- The unity that we need shall never be achieved, but we have to achieve it over and over again, just like we will never reach freedom because we will continue fighting for it - Dodik stated and thanked President Vučić for the initiative to make the holiday of the Unity of Serbian people, freedom and flag a tradition.
The Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag is marked on the date when the breach of the Thessaloniki front started, back in 1918, upon the decision of the governments of Serbian and the Republic of Srpska on joint observation of this date.
Before the celebration held on the Square of King Petar I Karađorđević in Bijeljina, the beginning of works was made official on the construction of a segment of Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway, or a segment of the road from Rača to Bijeljina.
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERY15.09.2022
mp4 (90,09 MB)The ceremony
15.09.2022
President Vucic's address
