PM decides not to attend WW1 event in Sarajevo

PM decides not to attend WW1 event in Sarajevo

BELGRADE -- Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has announced that Serbia and the Serb Republic (RS) will this year jointly mark June 28 - Vidovdan.

The religious holiday, St. Vitus Day, and the date itself, have had exceptional significance for Serbs through centuries.

Vučić held a news conference in Belgrade on Friday along with President of the Serb entity in Bosnia, RS, Milorad Dodik, and film director Emir Kusturica, to say that Serbia is proud of its heroic history and traditions.

Vučić explained that there are several reasons to mark St. Vitus Day together and that for Serbia, "one of them is that it is a great Serbian holiday."

The prime minister said that another was the official opening of Andrićgrad near Višegrad, Bosnia, while for the RS, another reason was the anniversary of "Gavrilo Princip's Sarajevo assassination."

He also said that the official marking of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War would begin in Serbia a month later, on July 28 - when the country came under attack in 1914.

Vučić announced that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić would also be in Andrićgrad, and noted that some "institutions and institutes" there have been supported by Serbia.

Vučić revealed that he would not go to Sarajevo for a commemoration of 100 years since the outbreak the war. Instead, he will spend June 28 "in Belgrade and Višegrad.

“It is my duty to be with our people - that is our biggest national holiday."

The prime minister said that there were two reasons why he could not be in Sarajevo. “I cannot stand next to a sign speaking about the fascist Serbian...