Minister Đurić Lays Wreaths at the Serbian Military Cemetery of Zeitenlik

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Marko Đurić, began his visit to Thessaloniki today by paying tribute and laying wreaths at the mausoleum at the Serbian Military Cemetery of Zeitenlik, as well as at the final resting place of Đorđe Mihailović, its long-time guardian. The Minister also visited the Church of St. Archangel Michael and the ossuary memorial, and toured the Serbian Homeland Memorial House, established in what was once the home of Đorđe Mihailović.

The head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized that, in the times in which we live, our firmest support can be found in the values of our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and forefathers—men who renounced their youth, their loves, dreams, and lives, sacrificing themselves in their twenties and thirties, sometimes even earlier, so that we might have a homeland in which to nurture our language, culture, faith, and values.

“Even amid global turbulence and storms gathering on the horizon, it is good to come on pilgrimage here to Zeitenlik—the largest individual ossuary in Europe, where the remains of 5,580 Serbian heroes rest in the crypt—and to visit this Serbian military cemetery, where a further 1,400 of our glory-crowned soldiers lie in individual graves. In times incomparably more difficult, these soldiers bore witness first to the collapse of the Serbian state, and then, through their effort and deeds—by committing themselves alongside the rest of their generation—brought about the Resurrection of that state, creating a country several times larger and stronger in territory, population, and overall capacity than the one that existed at the moment Serbia was attacked,” Đurić underscored.

That era teaches us, the Minister noted, among other things, that victory and success are ultimately determined neither by numbers, nor by equipment and weaponry, nor by overall societal capacity or the political moment, but by the unshakable will of a people—of a generation—to achieve success and to prevail.

“It was precisely that unwavering faith in Serbia, in Serbian identity, and in the homeland that led to the Resurrection of our state. I have come to bow to the shades of men who were greater than many before and after them, in the hope that our generation—which faces far fewer challenges than the one confronted by those who laid down their lives here—will, at least in part, rise to the sacrifices embedded in this place,” Minister Marko Đurić concluded.