19.02.2016.

Bust of King Alexander I Karadjordjevic unveiled at the Central Military Club

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic unveiled today a memorial bust of King Alexander I Karadjordjevic at the Central Hall of the Serbian Armed Forces, in the presence of HRH Jelisaveta Karadjordjevic, state secretaries in the Ministry of Defence Zoran Djordjevic and Nenad Neric, Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Dikovic, senior military officers and representatives of public and cultural life of the capital, thus completing the project of the Odbrana Media Centre of the Public Relations Department – marking significant jubilees from the Serbian liberation history and preserving memories of the personalities who have contributed to the progress of the military.

On this occasion, President Nikolic said that by unveiling of the memorial bust to King Alexander I Karadjordjevic "we are eliminating yet another injustice that we caused to ourselves giving up great men delivered by the Serbian people."

- There is no better place than the Gallery of the Greats of the Central Military Club, of this building which he built together with Stepa Stepanovic, investing his money for more than a third of the value, the President said, adding that Alexander I Karadjordjevic wanted that the House of Warriors "cherishes, preserves and teaches young people about the glorious Serbian, libertarian epic of their ancestors".

According to Nikolic, the state and the Armed Forces fulfil the honourable duty of keeping the memory, fostering a sense of belonging to the unity, culture of remembrance, honouring the greats, but also learning on their timeless value systems.

- Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces take care of this building as a good host takes care of his house, so this is another example of how, through culture and military tradition, national integrity and identity of the Armed Forces are integrated. On this track we are unveiling today a monument to the great personality of our history, Tomislav Nikolic said.

Director of the Odbrana Media Centre, Colonel Stevica S. Karapandzin, stressed that the only correct link between the past, present and the future has been arranged long time ago by relation in which only the one who "knows and respects his past, can position himself in the present and plan for the future."

- The great personalities are there for us, to remind us that even in wars it is possible and necessary to remain human, but also that the biggest sacrifice is to give oneself to one's country, people, for others, for all those who lived, for all those who will come, for eternity, Colonel Karapandzin said.

After the unveiling of bronze sculpture, in the Conference Hall of the Central Military Club, a cultural programme entitled "Heroic foundations of our days" was performed. Actors from the Academy of Arts and the chorus "Serbian Orthodox cantors", through 10 scenes, revived personalities from the famous Serbian history that have so far given their place under the vaults of the Central Military Club.

On the Statehood Day on 15 February 2015, President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic revealed memorial "In defence of the fatherland", with the image of the most famous Serbian scout Dragutin Matic, on the building of the Central Military Club. This event was an incentive for other important figures of Serbian military, cultural and scientific history to get bronze forms by which Odbrana Media Centre began to mark three important jubilees of the Serbian people – the centenary of the First World War, two centuries since raising the Second Serbian Uprising and seven decades since the victory over fascism.

In this way the Central Hall was turned into a kind of gallery in which so far the following personalities have received their bronze figure: Nadezda Petrovic, Djordje Weifert, General Jovan Dragasevic, Stanislav Binicki, Archibald Reiss, General Koca Popovic, Vladislav Petkovic Dis, Holy Abbot Paisius and Holy Deacon Habakkuk and the bronze busts were made for Field Marshal Stepa Stepanovic and today King Aleksandar I Karadjordjevic.