Serbian Christmas traditions

President Tomislav Nikolic and his associates on Christmas Eve brought the badnjak - an oak branch - into the Serbian Presidency building in Belgrade.

Honoring Christmas Eve traditions in Serbia, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Wednesday brought the badnjak into the building of the Presidency.

In Christmas message, he said that he hoped this year would be among the last of the crisis-ridden years in Serbia "and that we would start living better."

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej headed the consecration and the burning of the badnjak in front of the St. Sava Temple in Belgrade on Wednesday night.

The burning of oak branches or logs is a part of Serbian Christmas traditions.

Displaced Serbs from Djakovica, a town in Kosovo, have visited a Serbian Orthodox church there on Orthodox Christmas Eve.

They came in a bus escorted by the police and brought a badnjak - an oak log that is part of Serbian Christmas traditions - to the church's yard, despite the fact several dozen ethnic Albanians gathered to protest against their arrival.

Christimas is celebrated throughout Serbia

BELGRADE -- Serbian Orthodox Christians are on January 7 celebrating Christmas, one of Christianity's most important holidays that marks the birth of Jesus Christs.