DODIK: SRETENJE IS REMINDER TO PROTECT FREEDOM AND DEFEND AUTONOMY

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ – SNSD President Milorad Dodik emphasized that the Sretenje holiday serves as a reminder for Serbs to keep their freedom and dignity and to defend their autonomy.

Dodik said that for the Serbian people, Sretenje is far more than a date on the calendar, symbolizing both uprising and order, courage and wisdom, defiance and responsibility. "It is the day when past and future meet. The day when slavery and freedom meet. The day when a people confront their own destiny and decide to take control of it," Dodik stated. He stressed that as Serbs mark Sretenje today, they do not look back with sorrow, but with pride, knowing they are a people who rose up in their most difficult moments. Dodik added that the Serbian people have always known how to build when it was most needed and to preserve their dignity even in times of trial. "Sretenje reminds us that history does not happen on its own. It is written by nations that know who they are. And the Serbian people know who they are. We are a people who emerged from slavery with heads held high. A people who were the first in the Balkans to speak of a constitution and citizens' rights," Dodik said. He pointed out that throughout history, the Serbian people have understood that freedom is more valuable than comfort and that self-determination is more important than the mercy of others. "That is why today, with pride and faith, we say - Republika Srpska and Serbia will remain on the path of freedom. We will not stray from that path, because it is the path left to us by our ancestors and the one our children should follow," Dodik wrote on X. He pointed out that Sretenje teaches Serbs another lesson, that no generation has the right to grow weary of freedom. "That is why it is important today to remain united. To understand that any division among us is a gift to those who seek to weaken Republika Srpska and Serbia. Let Sretenje remind us that freedom must be safeguarded, autonomy defended, and dignity never surrendered," Dodik said. Sretenje is being marked in Serbia and Republika Srpska under the slogan "Unity and Pride" as Statehood Day, in accordance with the 2024 All-Serb Assembly Declaration.