Serbia’s acting interior minister Ivica Dačić said on Thursday that the “We Will Not Give Up Serbia” assembly represents the strength of a united Serbia determined to defend its national and state interests and to pursue development for all citizens.
Speaking on the opening day of a three-day gathering in front of the National Assembly in Belgrade, Dačić welcomed President Aleksandar Vučić and citizens of Serbia, emphasizing that regardless of how people address each other—“brothers and sisters” or “comrades”—what matters is that they are united.
“What Serbs have been missing for centuries is summed up in four key words: ‘Only unity saves the Serb,’” Dačić said, referencing a well-known national motto. The event began with a parade of 170 flags, led by what organizers said was the largest Serbian national flag ever displayed—measuring 200 meters in length.
He said disunity had historically been a weakness for the Serbian people. “We are only as strong as we are united. That is why today’s gathering is one of strength, of a Serbia that wants to defend its national and state interests, that rejects obstruction, blockades, and violence, and that wants to develop in the interest of all its citizens,” he said.
Dačić, who leads the Socialist Party of Serbia, addressed the crowd alongside coalition partners from United Serbia and the Greens of Serbia, calling for state unity and national cohesion.
He also praised the national flag, describing it as a symbol that had flown over battlefields from Cer and Kolubara to Kajmakčalan and Košare, and across the wider region including Republika Srpska Krajina, Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, and Montenegro.
“This parliament is entered or exited only through elections, by the will of the people—not by force or on the streets,” Dačić said. “Serbia stands above all—above all political parties, and above all individual interests.”