SRPSKA AND SERBIA WILL ALWAYS JOINTLY MARK VICTORY DAY IN GREAT WAR

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 20 /SRNA/ – The Consul General of Serbia in Banja Luka Miloš Vujić said that Serbia and Republika Srpska will always jointly commemorate Victory Day in the First World War and the entry of the glorious Serbian army into this city in 1918, thereby preserving the memory of the heroic deeds of their renowned ancestors.

"We must know what and who we are, and that the Serb people has always been on the right side of history," Vujić told the press today in Banja Luka, where he attended the celebration of this holiday on behalf of Serbia.

He notes it is important for younger generations to continue marking this holiday.

Nebojša Kuštrinović, the head of the Banja Luka Association of Descendants and Admirers of 1912–1918 Liberation Wars, thanked the Republika Srpska and Serbia governments, as well as the Banja Luka City Administration, for recognising the importance of preserving the memory of glorious ancestors and including this date as a joint holiday of Srpska and Serbia.

"In this way, it is proven to the entire world that the Drina River cannot be a border," Kuštrinović told the press in Banja Luka.

Banja Luka marked the 107th anniversary of the entry of the Serbian army into the city, on the occasion of which a memorial service was held in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour for all Serb and Montenegrin soldiers and civilians who fell in the First World War.

After the memorial service, a ceremonial parade was held from Krajina Square to the monument of Ban Svetislav Milosavljević, where wreaths and flowers were laid.

The entry of the Serbian army into Banja Luka in 1918 marked freedom for the Serb people in these areas after centuries of Ottoman rule and, since 1878, Austro-Hungarian rule.

Around 1.3 million Serbs fell in the First World War, nearly one-third of the population of Serbia at that time.

The commemoration of the 107th anniversary of the entry of the Serbian army into Banja Luka is organised by the Srpska and Serbia governments' committees for nurturing traditions of liberation wars.