Statehood Day marked by Kosovo and Constitution

After the session, an exhibition to mark the Statehood Day was opened in the hall of the National Assembly, which was followed by a gala cocktail reception. Addressing the guests, Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic said that a strong, stable and prosperous Serbia as a member of the EU, a guarantee of stability and peace and an economic leader in the region is the common goal of all. In front of the building at the Nikola Pasic square in downtown Belgrade, guests were welcomed by the Guard of the Serbian Armed Forces and the choir of the First Belgrade Singing Society intoned the national anthem. In addition to government officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps, the ceremony was attended by former presidents Boris Tadic, Zoran Lilic and Milan Milutinovic, Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Belgrade Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar, Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahic, Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and his wife Katarina, as well as representatives of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry, and around 90 reporters from 25 media houses reported from the event. The Friday session of the parliament was not attended by MPs of the Democratic Party of Serbia who thus expressed their protest over the statement of President Nikolic which they interpreted as an announcement of 'annihilation of Serbia's statehood in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM)'. Nikolic stated on Thursday that Kosovo institutions headed by Serbs are about to be set up, and added that Serbia aims to get the date of accession talks without humiliating itself or renouncing its sovereignty.