03.12.2018.
Marking Military Veterans’ Day
On Tuesday, 4 December 2018, the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces mark the Military Veterans’ Day through a series of events.
On 4 December 1912 an armistice was signed in the First Balkan War between the allies Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria on one side and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) as the defeated side on the other. For this reason, the date was selected as the Day of the Military Veterans. At that time, 400.000 warriors of the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia were awarded the title of “senior warriors”, (modern term is military veterans).
Looking after the war veterans was the responsibility of the Ministry of War, within the Government of the Kingdom of Serbia. By providing properties for them in the southern part of Serbia, the State and the Government have shown that it was possible to recognize and honor the participation in the country’s defense and show concern for the military veterans.
By choosing this date as the Military Veterans’ Day, the continuity of the veteran tradition from the Balkan wars was ensured, when Serbia, in addition to establishing a military alliance with its neighbors, engaged approximately 12 percent of the population in the war, along with all the material and financial reserves.
On the occasion of the Veterans’ Day, all organizational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces organize similar events and presented awards and recognitions to the most deserving members.
At the New Cemetery in Belgrade on 4 December, at 12 o'clock, a delegation of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces will lay a wreath at the Memorial ossuary of soldiers killed in the Serbian-Turkish and Serbian-Bulgarian Wars, and the Memorial ossuary to the Defenders of Belgrade in the Great War. At 12:45, the central commemoration will be held at the Memorial to the Liberators of Belgrade in World War II.
The delegation of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces will pay tribute and lay wreaths at the Memorial to War Victims and Defenders of Homeland 1990-1999 on the Sava Square in Belgrade, at 12 o'clock.
Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and the Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Milan Mojsilović, will host a reception for the representatives of military veterans at the General Hall of the Houses of the Guards at Topčider.
After reception, a ceremonial academy will be held in the Congress Hall of the Houses of the Guards on the occasion of the Veterans’ Day.
