Petkovic: Vidovdan is a national holiday reflecting the essence of the Serbian collective identity

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, extended his Vidovdan greetings to the Serbian people in Kosovo, stating that it is a great national holiday which reflects the very essence of the Serbian collective identity and upon which our national moral values are founded.

"Even today, due to the unreasonable and anti-civilizational decision of the authorities in Pristina, who have been preventing me from visiting the territory of Kosovo and Metohija for the past two and a half years, I am unable to mark this important day together with my people. Nevertheless, the state of Serbia and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija remain a strong and unwavering support to our people through all the trials and challenges they are facing," Petkovic wrote.

He added that Vidovdan has left a lasting mark on the formation of Serbian national consciousness and that the Serbian people and nation could not have survived the many historical ordeals through the centuries without Vidovdan and its ethical legacy.

"This Vidovdan, too, shapes us and brings us together around enduring national values, values greater than any daily political agenda and in opposition to any dismantling and obstruction aimed at undermining the foundations of our state. This year’s marking of Vidovdan in Kosovo and Metohija is taking place under pressure from Pristina against the Serbian people, and part of that anti-Serbian campaign is the absurd court ban on displaying Serbian national symbols during the holiday—something unseen in any democratic country, where such restrictions on marking national holidays simply do not exist," Petkovic stressed, and concluded:

"I believe that this day of Serbian unity in Kosovo and Metohija will be observed peacefully and with dignity, rising above all provocations and traps that Kurti’s regime prepares year after year."