Vucic: When they tell us to give up Kosovo and Metohija - there is no price to give up our name and surname

Serbia and Republika Srpska celebrated a joint holiday - September 15 - the Day of Serb Unity, Freedom, and the National Flag with a central event in the "Cair" sports hall in Nis. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that there was no such price for which the Serbs would give up their name and surname, their freedom, their tricolor.

"When they tell us - give up Kosovo and Metohija, give up your rights, and they basically say that every day - how can we give up our name and surname, our children, our future, our family? We will not. And there is no price we will not pay to preserve our freedom, name, and surname, our tricolor," Vucic emphasized.

The President thanked all the Serbs for carrying the Serbian flag, especially where it is not easy to carry it.

"In Kosovo and Metohija, our people who are suffering the terror of Albin Kurti and his helpers, in Montenegro it is not much easier. In Republika Srpska where it is easy and it is carried with pride thanks to those who created, protected, and defended Republika Srpska," Vucic pointed out.

He pointed out that it was good that there were different opinions in Serbia, but that we had to protect others and our homeland always.

"I was ashamed when I saw that yesterday some people were on the side of Albin Kurti and not their country, but I knew that 99 percent of the people were on the side of their country, that they know how hard we live, but that we fight to preserve peace, but that we will not allow the Serbs to be expelled from their homes," the President of Serbia said.

He pointed out that the Serbs, no matter where they lived, had a single national flag.

"We can live in many countries, but we have one single national flag, we have our own name and surname, our people, which we are not ashamed of," Vucic said and added that he was proud of today's holiday.

He stated that the Serbs in Montenegro were not doing well because they were not convincing enough in swearing that they would fight against Belgrade.

"The only important thing is that a Serb is not a Serb, that he renounces his Belgrade and his Serb nationality, and that he says that a true Serb is one who hates the Serb unification policy," said Vučić.

As he said, there would never be justice for the Serbs.

"How is it possible that 23-24 percent of Albanians have all the rights in North Macedonia, but you Serbs must not ask for similar rights in Montenegro, even though there are more of you than the Albanians in North Macedonia... What is it that the representatives of Republika Srpska need to make sure that they are not always to blame for everything? Apart from the sentence that Republika Srpska no longer exists? What sentence should they say, so that they are not the only ones to blame? There is none. They will always be the ones to blame," Vucic notes.

He also said that the accusations that the Serbs were creating a "Greater Serbia" were false.

"Thousands of texts and reports were made about how the Serbs will attack the region, how we are creating a Serbian world, how we will go to war with everyone in Kosovo and Metohija... We did not go to war. But for us – there is never a sorry. In Kosovo and Metohija there is not a single wounded Albanian, but that's why seven Serbs were wounded, among them two children. Who is to blame? Either both sides or the Serbs. Do you think it will change? It won't," the President of Serbia stated.

As he said, even if Serbia was more successful in everything, and progressed the fastest, it would still be a disruptive factor for many, precisely because of what the Serbs were celebrating today.

"For the sake of freedom, even if we are the only island of freedom in Europe, we will make decisions ourselves, defend the land, protect the sky, and protect the people. We will be proud of that. Foreigners will never decide in Serbia, that time has passed," Vucic said.

He reminded that guarding the flag in every war was the greatest honor and pride.

"They could never steal the tricolor from us. It is our pride and joy we stand behind it, we rejoice with it. I am happy that today we all sing together 'Veseli se srpski rode', that we know “Lazarica”, and that we celebrate the heroes from Koshare. I am grateful to all of you who love Serbia, the tricolor, that we will never allow anyone to break the Serb spirit and unity. We have given enough of everything to others and suffered for it. It is time for us to connect. It is not borders that can take away our language, alphabet, belonging to the same people," Vucic concluded.

Dodik: They want to deny the national identity of the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to seize Kosovo from Serbia because they consider it their right

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, said that the Serbs had to be united, although many were happy when this was not the case because there was no great nation whose success was not based on unity.

"That's why the Serbs must be united, gathered around the government, their institutions, gathered around Vucic. I testify that Vucic did everything to position Serbia differently, to put it in the right place. In terms of character, in the same situations, we will act a little differently, he will have patience, I won't, but when you add it up, I think we're doing the best job here," Dodik said.

He emphasized that history was a long process, but that it seemed to him that we had managed to master our present and that we were aware of the past.

"That's the only way we can have our future in the right way. Until 10 or 15 years ago, it wasn't like that. Whoever came here and asked for something, took it from the Serbs. The Serbs stood up every time the Turks and the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians and the Germans again, and when NATO came along, the Serbs again stood up to defend the freedom of the people and humanity, and again we were not good guys," Dodik said.

He emphasized that the Serbs wanted to live with others in peace, that everyone who was different was welcome, and that nothing but peace could be accepted.

He says that for 120 and 140 years they have been repeating the same thing in these areas and they always want to break the Serbian national unity, subjugate it, and for the Serbs to recognize and give everything they have to make someone like them.

"Today it seems to be the same as when Kallay was operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, when the Germans attacked in the First World War and in the Second World War and when they killed more than half the nation, and when we naively wanted to cooperate with them again. Today we see again that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they want to deny Serbian national identity, and here to seize Kosovo because they consider it their right," Dodik said.

As he says, whatever fire is lit here, it was lit by the Germans and others who in this region do not allow the Serbs to achieve what is being celebrated today - Serb unity, freedom, and the national flag.

"We do not want to take freedom from anyone. The Serbs naively believed that when we liberated the Balkans, that is, the Yugoslav territories, and gave freedom to other peoples, they would be grateful to us. At the end of that century, we had to fight for freedom again and we still haven't finished everything. That freedom that we gave so generously returned to us at the end of the last century as their way of saying that we are the ones who are oppressing here, that we are a bad people," Dodik said.

Patriarch Porfirije: The unity of the Serbs is not limited to geographical borders

SOC Patriarch Porfirije emphasized that the unity of Serbs was not limited to geographical borders.

"Even when there was no Serbian state - there was a unity of our people, but thank God today there is Serbia and Republika Srpska," the Patriarch said and added that today we were still scattered all over the world and that the Church was the guardian of that unity.

He congratulated the Serbs wherever they were.

"Because according to the words of the poet, 'wherever there is a Serbian soul, there is my homeland, my home, and my native hearth'. That is why from here we congratulate all our compatriots on the Day of Serbian unity, freedom, and the national flag. We raise our tricolor for the salvation of our, but and of all peoples," Patriarch Porfirije said.

The central manifestation was also attended by the President of the Assembly of Serbia Vladimir Orlic, ministers in the Government of Serbia, the Serbian member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Radovan Viskovic, and numerous citizens.

The ceremony began with the singing of the anthems of Republika Srpska and Serbia, and Serbian tricolors were fluttering in the Cair hall. The meeting ended with the song "This is Serbia".

Today, cities throughout Serbia are decorated with the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska. Serbian tricolors are also prominent in Serbian communities in Kosovo.

Today, September 15, is marked as the Day of Serb Unity, Freedom, and the National Flag in commemoration of that date in 1918, when the Thessaloniki Front was broken through.

The holiday was established in 2020, based on the decision of the Governments of Serbia and Republika Srpska on the joint celebration of this date.

It was celebrated for the first time in 2021 in Belgrade on Sava Square, near the monument to Stefan Nemanja, while this Day was celebrated last year in Bijeljina.