Top officials gather at Battle of Cer memorial

Top officials gather at Battle of Cer memorial

TEKERIŠ -- Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and Serb Republic (RS) President Milorad Dodik laid wreaths at a memorial honoring soldiers fallen in the Battle of Cer.

The battle was the first major victory of the Allies in the First World War, won as the Serbian Kingdom defended against the invading Austro-Hungarian forces.

At the central celebration Vučić and Dodik signed the memorial book of the Tekeriš Memorial Complex, near Loznica in western Serbia.

Wreaths were also laid by Chief of the General Staff of Serbian Armed Forces General Ljubiša Diković, Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić, and Loznica Mayor Vidoje Petrović, as well as envoys of the Serbian president and Serbian parliament speaker.

The soldiers who fought in the Battle of Cer were also honored by Ivana Lučić, great-granddaughter of General Stepa Stepanović who was the commander of the Serbian Second Army, which played the key role in the battle.

On behalf of the Serbian allies in the Great War, wreaths were laid by Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Chepurin and military envoy of France, as well as the representatives of the diplomatic corps in Belgrade.

The memorial service honoring the fallen heroes was headed by Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the beginning of the ceremony was announced by the trumpet player of the Serbian National Guard.

The Battle of Cer began by the attack of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Kingdom of Serbia from the direction of Bosnia-Herzegovina on August 12, 1914.

The first big confrontation occurred in the night between August 15 and 16 near the village of Tekeris, and the two armies...