President honors Serbian WW1 soldiers in Greece

Source: Tanjug

VIDO -- In commemoration of Armistice Day, President Tomislav Nikolić paid homage to fallen Serbian soldiers at the Greek island of Vido.

(Tanjug)

The engine of the Serbian delegation's ship was turned off as they observed a minute's silence, and the president threw a wreath into the sea, said reports.
The expression "the Blue Tomb" is used in Serbia to describe the area around the Ionian islands where thousands of Serbian Kingdom soldiers were buried at sea during the First World War.

Nikolić wrote in the memorial guest book: “Soon it will be 100 years since you fell asleep, so that Serbia could wake up. Someday someone will lay a wreath here on behalf of Serbia to commemorate 1,000 years, and Serbia will still be here.”

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Serbian Foreign Minister Jovan Mrkić, Minister of Culture and Information Bratislav Petković, Serbian president's Adviser Marko Đurić, Mayor of Corfu Ioannis Trepeklis and Ionian Islands Prefect Spiros Spirou also paid their respects.

In accordance with the conclusion adopted by the Serbian government at the initiative from the president's office, the Serbian delegation members wore lapel badges with a Natalie's Ramonda flower and a background in the colors of the Albanian Memorial medal.

The medal was established to commemorate the withdrawal of the Serbian Army through Albania as the country was facing some of the most difficult moments of the First World War.

Nikolić started his visit to Greece in Athens on Friday, where he had talks with the country's top officials.

Yesterday, in commemoration of Armistice Day, he paid tribute to fallen Serbian soldiers buried at the Zeytinlik military cemetery near Thessaloniki, after which he traveled to Mount Athos and the Serbian Orthodox monastery Hilandar.