Vojinovic on the relocation of the monument: The French Ambassador did something that is a criminal offense in his country

Milos Vojinovic from the Balkanological Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) expressed shock over the act of relocating the monument to the fallen Serbian soldiers in Pristina. According to him, French Ambassador Olivier Guerot did something that is a criminal offense in France.

"Bonton is a French concept. It implies that there are certain rules of behavior. When you go to someone's house as a guest, it is considered impolite to move an object in their library. French Ambassador Olivier Guerot did something that is a criminal offense in France. At the initiative of the Embassy, he moved the monument to Serbian soldiers who died in the Balkan wars and World War I, obviously so that the monument would not be in the frame of the photo when marking Armistice Day in World War I. Not only was I shocked, but surprised that a country that cares about its reputation like France allows its ambassador, and so far he hasn't apologized for such an inhumane gesture", Vojinovic said.

The historian finds the explanation of the French and German Embassies, which admitted it was their initiative, unconvincing, stating that the plaque was not moved but "just slightly shifted".

"It is known that memorial plaques are always facing in one direction. Their explanation is unconvincing; instead of a monument to Serbian soldiers, we got another monument to French soldiers. I don't understand how this could have happened at all", he emphasized.

As a member of the Balkanological Institute at SANU, he, along with other Ph.D. scholars, sent a letter to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of France and Germany, demanding an apology and the return of the memorial plaque to its original place. However, they did not receive a response.

"The initiative was started by a group of our Ph.D. scholars from Great Britain - Slobodan Tomic, Velimir Zivkovic, and Mihailo Popesku. I felt the need to join them. The French and German Embassies have been asked to return the monument and issue an apology. No response has been received so far. I neither expected nor expect a response, nor do I expect the monument to be returned. I would like to see more reactions from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our public deserves to know what the Serbian Ambassador in Paris has done, whom he spoke to, what explanations he received, and what the next steps will be so that we do not let this situation end like this. We have received some signals that the French are looking for a solution to fix this, but I think nothing will ever change unless pressure continues", the historian speaks honestly.

When asked if he believes in the promises of the French Embassy that the monument would be returned to its original place, Vojinovic gives a negative answer.

"I don't believe in that. Commemorating World War I is especially important because of the brutality of that war. It doesn't matter which side you were on; monuments are not to be tampered with. In Belgrade, there are a large number of tombstone monuments for soldiers who fought on other sides. We have Bulgarian graves in Serbia, Austro-Hungarian graves, and German monuments. It has never occurred to anyone to move them", Vojinovic concluded.