VUKELIĆ: SRETENJE UNDERSCORES FREEDOM AS FUNDAMENTAL VALUE OF SERBIAN PEOPLE

BEOGRAD, FEBRUARY 14 /SRNA/ – Sretenje, which Serbia and Republika Srpska jointly celebrate as Statehood Day, demonstrates that freedom has been and remains a fundamental value of the Serbian people on both sides of the Drina River, Nikola Vukelić, State Secretary at Serbia’s Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, has stated for SRNA.

He reminded that the holiday is linked to two important dates in history: February 15, 1804, when Serbian insurgents launched the uprising to free themselves from centuries of Ottoman rule, and February 15, 1835, when the Sretenje Constitution was adopted, which at the time was the most modern constitution in Europe. "For centuries we have fought for freedom, always grounding everything in law and justice," Vukelić said, stressing that this remains the case today. He noted that recently there had been what he described as a mockery of law, justice and legislation when unconstitutional and unlawful decisions were made in Sarajevo against the leadership of Republika Srpska. "We are encouraged by the latest news that the leadership of Srpska has overcome all those difficulties and that Srpska is stable and firmly tied to Serbia," Vukelić stressed. He pointed out that the joint marking of Sretenje is one of the initiatives of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and then-President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, who agreed that Serbia and Srpska would jointly mark all significant dates in Serbian history. "We jointly commemorate the victims of the 'Operation Storm', we stand together on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the 1999 NATO Aggression, and on the Day of Serbian Unity. Sretenje is one of those dates, and it is good that through joint observance we send the message that we are one united people and that we share the same values," Vukelić said. The joint observance of Sretenje as the Statehood Day of Republika Srpska and the Statehood Day of Serbia was established by the Declaration on the Protection of National and Political Rights and the Joint Future of the Serbian People, adopted at the All-Serb Assembly in Belgrade on June 8, 2024.