Congratulatory message on the occasion of the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag

15. Sep 2024.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia congratulates the Serbian people on the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag, and takes this opportunity, on the day when the Thessaloniki front was broken through in the First World War, to remind the international public of the contribution that our people had made to the creation of a democratic and free Europe and its values.

In both World Wars, the Serbian people was on the right side of history and suffered enormous and irreparable human losses fighting against imperialism and evil ideologies. The sacrifices of the Serbian people were laid in the very foundations of Europe as we know it today, and we expect that respect for the values ​​that our compatriots lost their lives for be guaranteed to the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

Today, the separatist political structures in Pristina are systematically violating the basic human rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, thereby undermining the fundamental values ​​of modern Europe, in front of the eyes of those who should be on the first line of defence of those values.

By fighting for the human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija today, the stability of the region and European values ​​are being defended, which should, without differentiation, be an integral part of the lives of all Europeans.

To make matters worse, the victims of anti-European actions in Kosovo and Metohija belong to the people which built and defended the foundations of European civilization in that area, as evidenced by numerous medieval Serbian religious buildings, four of which are inscribed on the list of world heritage in danger.

Every strong collective owes its success to the existence of internal solidarity and empathy, and that is why in this difficult and challenging period the entire Serbian people, in their hearts and minds, should stand by our compatriots in Kosovo and Metohija who are exposed to disenfranchisement and unprecedented pressures in modern Europe. But that is not enough, we also need European solidarity and empathy, because today in Kosovo and Metohija we are also defending European values.