VULIĆ: DAY OF COMMITMENT TO PRESERVING IDENTITY AND UNITY OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA/ – The Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag is not only a day of remembrance, but also a day of commitment to the culture of remembrance, preservation of identity and the unity of the Serbian people in the future, historian Georgije Vulić told SRNA.

Vulić emphasized that in conditions of frequent political pressures and attempts to relativize Serbian historical and cultural heritage in BiH, the Day of Serbian Unity acts as a factor of national cohesion and moral strength. He added that the observance of this holiday should therefore be understood as an opportunity to affirm joint historical achievements and values that have shaped Serbian culture through the centuries. “On that day we are reminded that statehood, freedom and identity are a choice, not a given – a choice that each generation must confirm anew. At the same time, on that day we, as a people, are called to responsibility, that national unity should not be reduced to an empty form, but should be the foundation of development, mutual respect and joint action in the modern world,” Vulić stressed. Vulić reminded that on September 15, 1918, the Salonika Front was broken through, marking the beginning of the liberation process of Serbian lands in the First World War, which was one of the most glorious moments in modern Serbian history. “This holiday is not a mere manifestation of the past, but a reminder of the values that enabled the survival of the Serbian people in the most difficult historical circumstances: the love of freedom, solidarity and the sense of a common identity,” Vulić noted. He pointed out that in times of globalization and strong processes of cultural uniformity, historical memory becomes one of the key foundations for the preservation of the national being. “Serbs from both sides of the Drina river took part in the battles on the Salonika Front, and by marking this holiday as a collective we are reminded of the struggle and unity of our ancestors, but also of the obligation to remember those events,” Vulić emphasized. He considers it especially important that the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag is celebrated simultaneously in Serbia and in Republika Srpska, which sends a message about the spiritual and cultural unity of the Serbian people on both sides of the Drina river. Vulić said that for Republika Srpska this holiday also carries additional weight because it represents institutionalized recognition that the Serb people west of the Drina are part of the wider national corpus, whose identity and rights do not end at the Drina, although it is often attempted to impose this on the Serbian people as inevitability. The Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag is a state holiday celebrated on September 15 in Serbia and Republika Srpska, symbolically established on the date marking the breakthrough of the Salonika Front. It has been celebrated since 2020. The idea for a joint holiday of Serbia and Srpska was proposed by Serbia’s leaders Aleksandar Vučić and Ana Brnabić, in agreement with the leadership of Republika Srpska led by Milorad Dodik. This year, the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag will be celebrated on September 15 in Gadžin Han, the hometown of the most famous Salonika veteran, Dragutin Matić.