CROWN PRINCE ATTENDS 160TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MILITARY ACADEMY

Belgrade, 19 March 2010 - HRH Crown Prince Alexander II attended the celebration ofthe 160th anniversary of the Military Academy at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade.

Among distinguished guests at the event were H.E. Mr. Boris Tadic, President of Serbia, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, H.E. Dr Mirko Cvetkovic, Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Dragan Sutanovac, Minister of Defense, Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Miloje Miletic, representatives of military and diplomatic corps in Belgrade, and celebrities from the public, economic and cultural life of Serbia.

H.E. Mr. Dragan Sutanovac, Minister of Defense addressed the guests and emphasized that today, after 160 years of the existence of the Military Academy it is equally hard to imagine the history of the Balkans without the Serbian Army as well as the Serbian Armed Forces without the Military Academy.

The First Military Academy in Serbia started to work in December 1837, but worked for only 6 months. On 18 March 1850, Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic (the great gret grandfather of Crown Prince Alexander) approved the proposal by the State Council and Ilija Garasanin, that Serbia create an Artillery School, which eventually became the Military Academy.