VUČIĆ: TODAY WE CELEBRATE BIOLOGICAL SURVIVAL OF SERB PEOPLE

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 15 /SRNA/ - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that Republika Srpska and Serbia are proudly marking Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag Day, celebrating not only a military victory but also the biological survival of the Serb people.

Vučić, who presented decorations to deserving individuals today, said that this holiday is an obligation for Serbs, regardless of borders, to remain one people in the future.

In his address, he recalled that an idea emerged in 2020 that gave a new institutional framework to the commemoration of the breakthrough of the Salonika Front, and that Serbia and Republika Srpska agreed to have a joint day that they would mark with the same pride.

He thanked the leadership of Republika Srpska and President Milorad Dodik for jointly marking the occasion, noting that Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag Day has its place in the official state calendars of both republics.

He stressed that a flag is not a piece of cloth, but a condensed history of a people, written in colours instead of verses and letters, and recalled that the Serbian tricolour became the official flag of the Serb people in the 19th century and accompanied the Serb people through all wars and all challenges.

"Our tricolour fluttered in the trenches on the Salonika Front. Our tricolour fluttered when it drove out the Nazis. It also fluttered during the NATO aggression. It is fluttering, more beautiful than ever, as we live in peace and reap its fruits," Vučić said.

He said that the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Matica Srpska and other spiritual and educational institutions preserve what no law can - the Serbian language, the Cyrillic script, tradition and spirituality.

"Cultural unity transcends daily politics. It is a lasting value for the survival of our people in the Balkans, and if we nurture it, it will outlive all of us who stand here today," Vučić said.

According to him, the freedom and peace enjoyed today were paid for with the lives of others so that the future could belong to us.

"Let this day, wherever it is marked, be a day when we stop, at least for a moment, look at the flag above us and feel what those at Dobro Polje and Kajmakčalan felt - that freedom is the greatest value a people can have," Vučić said.

He also stressed that there had been no disagreements between Serbia and Republika Srpska, even when they did not share the same views, and that they had always stood by and alongside one another when times were hardest.

Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag Day is marked today, September 15, in Republika Srpska and Serbia. It was established to nurture the unity of the Serb people and national symbols, as well as to commemorate the breakthrough of the Salonika Front.

The holiday has been observed since 2020, with the primary aim of strengthening unity between the Serb people in Serbia and Republika Srpska, as well as reinforcing the cult of the national flag.