The celebration of Statehood Day in Kolašin began at the Partisan Cemetery Memorial Complex on Breza, where wreaths were laid by delegations of the Municipality, the Army of Montenegro, UBNOR, and anti-fascists.
The ceremony continued at the Soldiers' Square, from which the message was conveyed that "July 13th should not be celebrated because of the past trenches, but because of the values that survived from them - dignity, freedom, responsibility towards the state and towards each other."
"July 1878th is a key point in the Montenegrin historical arc, a day in which our identity, our struggle and our dignity are refracted. It is the day when Montenegro, in 1941, at the Berlin Congress, received international recognition, confirmation of what it has lived and defended for centuries: that freedom for us is not an ideal, but a natural state. And that same day, in XNUMX, illuminated the face of Montenegro once again, when, amidst the darkness of occupied Europe, the people stood up without calculation, without division, and showed that courage and honor here are not the past, but a heritage that is defended with deeds," said the President of the Municipal Assembly (MA) Vasilije Bulatović.
According to him, at a time when "Europe was silent, when many bowed their heads, Montenegro stood up, without orders, without instructions, guided only by its own sense of what it means to be a free man." On that day, Bulatović recalled, the people said what history remembers, that evil must not be watched with folded arms.
"In that struggle, in that decision, Kolašin also gave of itself. In its own way, layered, sometimes unequally, but always guided by a sense of honor and belonging. Maybe we didn't all always follow the same path, but we looked towards the same goal: for Montenegro to remain its own. For the people to remain upright... My message is not chronological, but human. And it is: only together can we move forward. That is not an empty sentence for protocol speeches, it is the truth that we in Kolašin have learned throughout history, often in the hardest possible way," said Bulatović.
Today's holiday, he said, should not be used "to count each other, but to recognize each other."
Statehood Day, according to Bulatović, should be "a common thread that binds us all, regardless of surnames, religion or belief". As he said, "Kolašin, like Montenegro, carries a deep historical complexity, but from that complexity grew the strength that has sustained us".
Nikola Lakićević, president of UBNOR and an anti-fascist, said that "the world admired July 13, 1941, the great day of a small nation."
"It is the day on which Montenegro opened the doors to that historical and civilizational appreciation that is not measured by territory and population, but by the heart of a man who gives everything to freedom. - From the Fighters' Square, from the heart of heroic Kolašin where our state was being rebuilt, I want to say that on July 13, Montenegro needs the Thirteenth of July Montenegro. A state in which its citizens will be proud continuers of the sacrifice and desire of their ancestors that Montenegro be decided by Montenegro in Montenegro. Montenegro needs youth on July 13 who believe that from this space they can be an equal participant in the European and world games of life. Montenegro is not a house for the homeless, but a common roof of pride, freedom and the future that today has brought us," said Lakićević.
The celebration of the Statehood Day in Kolašin was organized by the Municipality, UBNOR and anti-fascists. The ceremonial part of the program included the choir "Luča" and violinist Jana Radunović, and the program was hosted by Nikola Šćepanović.
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