28.10.2012.
Ceremony marking the battle of Kumanovo
The central ceremony of the centenary of the outbreak of the First Balkan War and the liberation from the Ottoman Empire was held yesterday on the Zebrnjak hill in Macedonia.
The ceremony was attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, who led the state delegation that included Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic, Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Lieutenant General Ljubisa Dikovic, Advisor to the Serbian President Marko Djuric, as well as representatives of the National Assembly of Serbia Aleksandar Cotric and Milorad Stosic.The celebration was attended by the President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik, President of the New Serbian Democracy from Montenegro Andrija Mandic.
At the monument of the victory of the Serbian Army, wreaths were laid by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Chief of SAF GS Lieutenant General Ljubisa Dikovic, President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik, and a representative of the Government of Macedonia.
Bishop Atanasije of Hvostan served the mass for the fallen soldiers.
President Tomislav Nikolic said, addressing the gathered people, that the celebration of the Battle of Kumanovo was a message of peace and remembrance of a civilization turning point in the Balkans, Europe and the world.
- Marking the centenary of the Battle of Kumanovo is a message of peace, cooperation and understanding which is sent by Serbia and Macedonia to the region and the entire world. Zebrnjak is the place that connects us, Nikolic said at the central ceremony marking the centenary of the Battle of Kumanovo on the Zebrnjak hill.
The Serbian President said that the victory after more than five centuries enabled the Serbian Army to take control over Kosovo and enter Skopje, the royal capital of Serbia in the 14th century.
-At this point, a century ago, on 23rd and 24th October, the youth, strength and love flew out and we are standing here today at the site of the theatre of famous historical battle 'filled with pride as descendants of a harbinger of freedom’, Nikolic said, adding that in the place of Zebrnjak, 100 years ago, the fate of the Ottoman Empire was decided.
- Filled with pride as descendants of a harbinger of freedom, we are stand on Zebrnjak, the place where the fate of the Ottoman Empire was decided, President Nikolic said.
Nikolic recalled that on the Zebrnjak hill a monument was erected in honor of the Serbian heroes according to the design of architect Momir Korunovic in 1937, in which crypt the remains of 723 killed soldiers were deposited.
The most important battle of the First Balkan War took place in Kumanovo valley on 23rd and 24th October 1912, and the Serbian army defeated the then superior forces of the Ottoman Empire, and after more than five centuries brought freedom to the old medieval Serbian areas.
