GOGANOVIĆ: SERBIAN TRICOLOR IS SYMBOL OF OUR SUFFERING AND VICTORIES, SIGN THAT WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN WHO WE ARE

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, 15 SEPTEMBER /SRNA/ – Deputy Minister of Defense in the Council of Ministers Aleksandar Goganović congratulated all citizens of Republika Srpska and Serbia on 15 September, the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom, and the National Flag, the day in 1918 when the Salonika Front was broken, free Serbia was reborn, and the final campaign for the liberation of the homeland began.

“On that day, the Serbian army, exhausted but unyielding, launched an assault that liberated our country in just 45 days. That freedom was paid for at the highest price – one-third of our people did not live to see the end of the Great War. Because of their sacrifice, the victory we celebrate is not only military but also moral, inscribed in the foundations of our identity,” Goganović emphasized. He stressed that the courage and determination of the Serbian soldier became an example in world military history. “French generals spoke with admiration that ‘Serbian soldiers exceeded even the greatest expectations of the allies,’ and even Austro-Hungarian officers, our former adversaries, admitted that ‘against such an army, one can only perish, not win,’” Goganović reminded. He underlined that the Serbian tricolor has flown from then until today as a symbol of victory and freedom. “It flew over the liberties won, on the bloody battlefields where freedom and honor were fought for, over liberated cities and villages, and as a mark of victory and recognition for the sacrifice of our people, it even flew over the White House in Washington immediately after the end of the Great War. It flew over the bridges we built, in ceremonial processions, and at the greatest sporting victories. It flew in schoolyards when children usually first learn what its colors mean, over the homes of our people around the world,” Goganović said, noting that the Serbian tricolor bears witness to our sufferings and victories, a sign that we have not given up and have not forgotten who we are. Today, when the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska stand side by side, he said, we confirm that our roots are shared and our future is joint. “Let this day serve as a reminder that only in unity can we preserve freedom and build the future that the generations to come deserve,” Goganović said.