15.02.2026.
Wreath laid on Mt. Avala to mark Statehood Day
To mark Sretenje (Candlemas) – Serbia’s Statehood Day, a wreath was laid today at the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Mount Avala by Miloš Vučević, acting on behalf of the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić. During the wreath-laying ceremony, Miloš Vučević was accompanied by Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović.
Following the wreath-laying ceremony, conducted with full military honours, including a Guard of Honour and the playing of the national anthem, Presidential Advisor Vučević inscribed the following message in the memorial book:
“On behalf of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and of our grateful fatherland, I bow before the remains of the unknown hero on the occasion of Statehood Day in the year of Our Lord 2026.May the wreath I lay at this sacred place, on behalf of the head of our state, stand as a symbol of the glory and gratitude of the Serbian people, uniting in eternity the hero who rests here with all his comrades who lie in known and unknown graves, from Kalemegdan to Kaymakchalan, from the Serbian uprisings to the wars for liberation.
Glory to the heroes of our sacred defence! Honour to the torchbearers of freedom! May their souls rest in peace.
May the Lord grand that we prove worthy of the sacrifice of our ancestors, who struggled for two centuries for the freedom and independence of the Serbian state, a struggle that began on Sretenje in 1804.”
Serbia’s Statehood Day is observed on February 15, commemorating the launch of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 and the adoption of the Sretenje Constitution in 1835.
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERY15.02.2026
mp4 (215,94 MB)The wreath-laying ceremony
