11.11.2015.

Armistice Day in WWI marked

With the highest state and military honours, President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic, accompanied by Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Chief of General Staff General Dikovic laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Avala, on the occasion of Armistice Day in World War I - 11 November.

"Serbia and its allies showed generosity by signing an armistice with those who were preparing a pogrom in the world. The time of truce was preparation to forgive the enemy and ends with peace for all. Serbia still wants to help in achieving peace for all. Serbia and its people know the value of peace. To you, everlasting glory and thanks", President of the Republic wrote in the memorial book.

With the sounding of the national anthem of the Republic of Serbia, President Tomislav Nikolic laid a wreath with a dedication – To heroes of the Great War, from proud descendants.

Central state ceremony on the occasion of the Armistice Day, which was led by Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Aleksandar Vulin, took place at the Memorial Ossuary of defenders of Belgrade in World War I. Members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces also took part in the wreath-laying ceremonies at the French military cemetery, at the Memorial Ossuary of Russian soldiers killed in the First World War and the Commonwealth cemetery.

Armistice Day in World War I is celebrated in memory of 11 November 1918 when, in France, in a special carriage of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, a truce in the First World War was signed. On that day at 11 am, a truce which Germany signed the Entente entered into force and so ended the hostilities on the Western Front. It was in force until the conclusion of the final peace agreement in Versailles, on 28 June 1919.

In Serbia, Armistice Day has been celebrated as a national holiday since 2012. This year it was marked by a series of events throughout Serbia in memory of the innocent victims between 1914 and 1918. As an emblem of the holiday, the flower Natalie’s Ramonda is used, which is classified as an endangered species and on Kaimaktsalan, and is also known as Phoenix- flower, and next to it, there is a ribbon with the colours of the Albanian memorial - black and green, shown above the purple flower.