15.02.2022.
Serbia celebrates Statehood Day
The Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia is being celebrated today in a series of events with full state and military honours.
The designee of the President and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, Secretary General of the President of Serbia Suzana Paunović, has laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Mt. Avala with full military honours, while the national anthem was being performed and honour guard stood in formation. The President’s designee was accompanied by the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, and the Air Force and Air Defence Commander, Lieutenant General Duško Žarković.
Having laid the wreath, Ms. Paunović wrote the following in the visitor’s book:"In memory of the unknown hero, all unknown and famous heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of Serbia, as a sign of eternal gratitude and respect. By sacrificing your lives, you laid an indestructible foundation for our freedom and independence. May your memory be eternal, and may we and our descendants never forget you."
Today, on the occasion of the Statehood Day, the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, will present decorations to deserving individuals and institutions. By presidential decree, the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade will be awarded the Order of the White Eagle with Swords, Third Class, and 129 members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces will also be decorated.The central state ceremony marking Candlemas - the Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia, in the Orašac memorial complex will be lead by Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. MPs, Serbian government ministers, representatives of Republika Srpska institutions, clergy and the diplomatic corps will attend the ceremony, and the Serbian Armed Forces delegation will be led by Deputy Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, Lieutenant General Petar Cvetković. As part of the celebration of the Statehood Day, the delegation representing the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces will lay a wreath in St. George’s Church in Oplenac.
Today's events marking the Statehood Day were preceded by a ten-volley gun salute fired from six artillery weapons at Kalemegdan’s Sava plateau. The gun salute was performed by the Serbian Armed Forces Guard on the order of the President of the Republic Aleksandar Vučić.The Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia - Candlemas is a national holiday which marks two historical events important for the cultural, historical and national identity of Serbs. On that day in 1804, Serbian rebels, led by Karađorđe, made a decision at a meeting in Orašac, to launch the First Serbian Uprising. On the same date in 1835, the Candlemas Constitution, the first constitution of Serbia, was adopted in Kragujevac.
