The National Day of Montenegro was celebrated in London and Toronto

Thirteenth of July - National Day of Montenegro, celebrated in Great Britain and Canada.

The celebration in London's Hyde Park has been organized by The Montenegro-UK Society for eight years.

"It is a tradition that the Society cultivates and celebrates the uprising of the Montenegrin people in the fight against fascism. Even today, anti-fascism remains one of the main achievements of Montenegro, which is proudly inherited by Montenegrin men and women in London with the regular participation of the Montenegrin embassy. Also, that day is celebrated as the day when Montenegro became an independent state at the Berlin Congress in 1878. There is an interesting parallel where Montenegrins celebrate this in the heart of London, because Great Britain was the first country in the world to declare war against fascism, and Montenegro was the first to stand up uprising", they state.

The Montenegrin Cultural Society from Toronto celebrated Statehood Day in that Canadian city on Sunday, July 14.

They also organized the raising of the Montenegrin flag, with the singing of the Montenegrin national anthem in front of the Toronto City Assembly.

The flag was raised this year by Filip Sekulić from Podgorica, and they remind us that the tradition started in 2017.

"It is wonderful to be here with you again for the National Day. It is a great honor to serve your country as a consul. The first honorary consul was Noel Marshall, who was appointed by King Nicholas. His appointment ceased when Montenegro lost its independence and was absorbed into The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Fortunately, there is a strong community of Montenegrins in Canada. This year, NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary ever, with Finland and Sweden, with all the members committing to spend more on defense, we need NATO more than ever, otherwise it would face the unfortunate choice of becoming a puppet state Belarus, or to be attacked like Ukraine. We all have to support a strong NATO," said Honorary Consul Douglas Elliott in his welcoming speech.