CVIJANOVIĆ: SERBS TO REMAIN UNITED AND GATHERED IMPORTANT

BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 16 /SRNA/ – The Serb BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović has stated today in Belgrade that Republika Srpska is proud to mark important historical dates, such as Candlemas, together with Serbia – always inspired and with pride.

"We know how important it is that what is called the national substance remains gathered and united, as it was in the past, and to continue to be so in the future," Cvijanović told the press in Belgrade.

Cvijanović, who attended the ceremony at which decorations were presented to distinguished individuals and institutions on the occasion of Candlemas – Statehood Day, said that Serbs from Republika Srpska and Serbia have traditionally gathered around important dates, their history, and everything they have gone through and lived together as one people.

"We are also oriented toward the future. The awarding of decorations is always a beautiful act in which institutions express gratitude to individuals or other institutions for everything they have contributed, for marking a certain period, striving to strengthen Serbia and contributing to social development," Cvijanović said.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, presented Candlemas decorations in Belgrade, and among more than 70 recipients was the Minister of Justice of Republika Srpska, Goran Selak, who was awarded the Candlemas Order, First Class.

The same decoration was also awarded to His Eminence Metropolitan Irinej of Bačka and Professor Emeritus Mirko Vasiljević, a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska /ANURS/.

Candlemas is also marked as the Statehood Day of Republika Srpska, and this year's slogan is "Unity and Pride".

Candlemas is celebrated as Statehood Day in remembrance of February 15, 1804, when the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottomans was launched under the leadership of Karađorđe, and of the same date in 1835, when the first constitution of the Principality of Serbia, known as the Candlemas Constitution, was adopted in Kragujevac.