Central ceremony to mark Statehood Day/VIDEO

The day commemorates two pivotal events in the efforts to rebuild a Serbian state after centuries of Ottoman Turkish occupation: the First Serbian Uprising of 1804, led by Djordje "Karadjordje" Petrovic, and the adoption of the Sretenje Constitution in 1835.

Leading the ceremony in Orasac, where the Uprising was launched, was Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. Citizens carrying flags, and ministers Jadranka Joksimovic, Nenad Popovic, Branko Ruzic, Aleksandar Antic, and Zoran Djordjevic were in attendance, as well as Serb Republic (RS) President Zeljka Cvijanovic and Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic.

Members of the Church, the Army, and the diplomatic corps were also present today.

Brnabic and Cvijanovic laid a laurel wreath at the Monument to Kradjordje, while Bishop Jovan of the Serbian Orthodox Church served a memorial service for the rebels and their leader.

In Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vucic presented state decorations to deserving individuals and institutions.

The Serbian government published excerpts from Brnabic's speech in Orasac, where she said that the president of Serbia and the Serbian government are conducting a responsible policy that will bring progress and benefit to all citizens of Serbia in the long run, without difference, because it is a policy of essential transformation of our country.

"Today we are marking the 215th anniversary of the modern Serbian state. The beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, 15 February 1804, marked the beginning of the transition process of an economically backward Ottoman province into one of the most free societies in Europe of the Napoleonic era.

Exactly 31 years later, on Sretenje, in 1835, led by Grand Prince Milos, Serbia got one of the...