04.12.2020.
Reception given by Minister of Defence and Chief of General Staff on the occasion of Veterans’ Day
On the occasion of the Veterans’ Day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović have given a reception today for the delegation of veterans in the Old General Staff’s Small War Hall. After the reception, Minister Stefanović said that Serbia would never forget its soldiers, their deeds and what they entrusted us with.
The delegation was composed of the president of the Club of Generals and Admirals of Serbia, retired Lieutenant General Milomir Miladinović, the president of the Union of War Veterans of the National Liberation Wars of Serbia (SUBNOR), retired Major General VidosavKovačević and a member of Association of Families of Soldiers Who Died in the 1990 -1999 Conflicts, Vlada Purković.Congratulating the delegates on the holiday, Minister Stefanović pointed out that he was extremely honoured to have the opportunity to talk to the representatives of our country’s veterans who had always shown how much they loved Serbia.
- It is very important for us to preserve the tradition, to show that we deeply appreciate the fact that military veterans worked for Serbia in the past and that they were the first ones to give their lives and risk their health, to fight for their country and for all of us to be safe and free in every war, but also in all other challenges that our country faced - Minister Stefanović emphasized.
Minister of Defence emphasized that their deeds had to be remembered.
- Serbia will never forget its soldiers, it will never forget their courage and what they entrusted us with – Minister Stefanović said.
It is very important, Minister Stefanović concluded, that we respect the veterans and their families, that we show that we care for them and that we are able to look after them and that we appreciate the fact that they did not worry about their lives when they fought for their country. Earlier today, Minister Stefanović extended congratulations to all veterans on 4 December, the Veterans’ Day.
The Veterans’ Day is marked on 4 December in memory of the day when the armistice was signed in the First Balkan War in 1912 between the military coalition of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria and the defeated Ottoman Empire. At that time, 400,000 fighters of the Kingdom of Serbia’s Army received the title of “old warriors“, i.e. veterans.
