The ceremonial Sretenje Academy on the occasion of the Statehood Day of Serbia, instead of February 15, will be held in the Old Assembly in Kragujevac a day earlier, tomorrow, February 14, starting at 2 p.m.
The city of Kragujevac will cancel all events planned for the Statehood Day, and guests from the country and abroad who were previously invited to the Sretenje festivities have already been informed about the cancellation of the celebration, FoNet learns from sources in the local government.
According to information from the same source, it is most likely that all events held in Orašac on Sretenje will also be canceled.
The city government did not provide an explanation for the change, but it is assumed that this is due to the mass protest rally of students and citizens on February 15 – “Let’s meet on Sretenje” where people are coming from all over Serbia.
The Old Assembly, where the Sretenje Academy is traditionally held on February 15, is in the immediate vicinity of Lepenički Boulevard, where on Saturday, on the very day of the holiday, there will be a protest with a 15-hour blockade.
Sretenje was traditionally celebrated with a solemn session of the city parliament in the building of the Old Assembly with a speech by the mayor of Kragujevac and one of the highest state officials.
The speaker at the Sretenje Academy will be an envoy of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs, Nemanja Starović, and the Sretenje speech will be delivered by the Mayor of Kragujevac, Nikola Dašić.
The Art Ensemble of the Ministry of Defense “Stanislav Binički” will perform and a dramatic performance “Constitution and Representations” will be performed.
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In 2023, the Sretenje address was delivered by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who on that occasion announced the quick completion of the long-started reconstruction of the City Market, the start of the construction of a new University Clinical Center and the construction of a new football stadium.
Two years later, the reconstruction of the City Market has still not been completed, according to the data of the Inquiry Committee, instead of the planned two million euros for its reconstruction, 10 million euros have already been spent, and the completion of the works has been postponed for an additional six months.
The beginning of the construction of the new UKC and the new football stadium is not even in sight.
Sretenje is a public holiday and is celebrated for two days, February 15 and 16, in memory of two significant historical dates.
On that day, in 1804, the Serbian rebels, led by Karađorđe, at a rally in Orašac, decided to start the First Serbian Uprising, and in 1835, the Sretenje Constitution, the first constitution of Serbia and one of the most democratic and liberal constitutions of that time, was adopted in Kragujevac.
On the same day, on Sretenje in 1804, the First Serbian Uprising was raised in nearby Orašac, which marked the beginning of the struggle for the liberation of Serbia from Turkish slavery.
According to information from the same source, it is most likely that all events held in Orašac on Sretenje will also be canceled.
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Source: Agencije, Photo: AFP