23.08.2009.

95th anniversary of Cer Battle

In the name of the Government of Serbia, the Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac laid commemorative wreaths on the memorial tomb of “Cer Batlle” complex in Tekeris, at the central state ceremony of commemorating 95th anniversary of this military operation.

The commemorative ceremony was attended by state and military officials, diplomatic corps and the representatives of WWI participating countries and the Allies of the Kingdom of Serbian in WWI.

– We have gathered here to pay our respects to the warriors in WWI, and even though exhausted by the Balkan Wars, the Serbian people mustered enough strength and courage to organize and mobilize in order to stand up to the Austro-Hungarian army. The Serbian people under the command of great commanders and our army managed to get the occupying forces in just eight days out of our territory. Our memory looks back on the victory of Serbian commanders, their courage and determination. We witnessed large- scale destruction in the history of mankind, since there was not enough wisdom to realize that war was never a good solution to any problem, as Minister Sutanovac said in his address to the citizens of Serbia, the representatives of Allies in WWI, our enemies of those times and today’s friends. The Minister pointed out that Serbia wishes to protect its interests in a diplomatic way.

We are committed to peace, and we do not want to be at war with anyone ever again and we want the citizens of Serbia to live a prosperous and fruitful life and to become a full member of the European Union sharing European values stated Sutanovac addressing the representatives of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Russia and France adding that modern challenges, risks, and threats to Serbian security are international risks and they cannot be solved unless we build good neighborly relations, with regional and other countries as well.

– We have an obligation to teach our posterity history to tell them of the Serbian heroes not only to preserve them in memory but in order to prevent the history from repeating.

LT> General. Mladen Cirkovic, Deputy CHOD, laid the commemorative wreath on behalf of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense. The commemorative wreaths were also laid by the representatives of local self-government and of diplomatic crops in Serbia.

Minister of Defense, a descendant of a warrior at Cer Battle wrote the following words in the memorial book of the Museum ‘Cer Battle” –These words are dedicated to the fallen warriors of the battle, expressing earnest gratitude and admiration for their heroic deed and sacrifices they made. May they rest in eternal glory! Long live Serbia!

This year’s ceremony was organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of Defense as well as the town of Loznica.

The memorial tomb was erected in 1928 in Tekeris where in the period from 15 to 19 August 1914 these battles took place. It is in the form of a natural rock, 8,6 ? 7,6 m, and is ten meters high. The remains of tens of thousands warriors are laid there.The inscription on it reads “You deeds are immortal”.

The Battle of Cer also known as Battle of Jadar (main operations were held near the river basin of the Jadar river in Serbia) was one of the first battles of World War I, it also marked the first Allied victory in the war. The battle was fought between the Austro-Hungarian Army and Serbian forces.