PM unveils monument to slain French FM

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic last night unveiled a bust of former French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou to mark the French holiday of Bastille Day. Barthou was assassinated together with Serbian King Alexander in Marseilles in 1934. PM unveils monument to slain French FM The ceremony at the French ambassador’s residence in Belgrade was attended by numerous Serbian politicians and public officials, as well as diplomatic and religious representatives. Barthou was a star on the French political scene between the two World Wars, and contributed greatly to relations between France and the former Yugoslavia. His descendants expressed a desire to see a bust of Barthou in the garden of the French ambassador’s residence, where he stayed many times. “This gesture comes at a symbolic time when we want to underline the good relations between France and Serbia, and give them more momentum after the recent visit of President Tadic and his meeting with President [Nicolas] Sarkozy,” said French Ambassador to Serbia Jean-Francois Terral. Cvetkovic said that “relations between Serbia and France are constantly improving,” and that Serbia expected France to “continue to be Serbia’s partner and sponsor on the road to European integration.” Serbian Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic said that the unveiling of the bust paid homage to a great country and great man, who was a victim of political violence that pushed the world into “the dark and the abyss of World War II.” He said that Barthou had died along with his grandfather King Alexander, and that “as host to his senior dignitary, Barthou was not just Louis Barthou at that time, but France.” July 14, 1789, was the day the Bastille fell, marking the start of the French Revolution, a turning point in European history. In Serbia, the day is marked with a traditional ceremony of honoring French soldiers who were killed in the liberation of Serbia in World War I and the laying of a wreath at the monument of thanks to France in Kalemegdan park. Yesterday's ceremony in Kalemegdan (FoNet)

PM unveils monument to slain French FM

The ceremony at the French ambassador’s residence in Belgrade was attended by numerous Serbian politicians and public officials, as well as diplomatic and religious representatives.

Barthou was a star on the French political scene between the two World Wars, and contributed greatly to relations between France and the former Yugoslavia. His descendants expressed a desire to see a bust of Barthou in the garden of the French ambassador’s residence, where he stayed many times.

“This gesture comes at a symbolic time when we want to underline the good relations between France and Serbia, and give them more momentum after the recent visit of President Tadić and his meeting with President [Nicolas] Sarkozy,” said French Ambassador to Serbia Jean-Francois Terral.

Cvetković said that “relations between Serbia and France are constantly improving,” and that Serbia expected France to “continue to be Serbia’s partner and sponsor on the road to European integration.”

Serbian Prince Alexander Karađorđević said that the unveiling of the bust paid homage to a great country and great man, who was a victim of political violence that pushed the world into “the dark and the abyss of World War II.”

He said that Barthou had died along with his grandfather King Alexander, and that “as host to his senior dignitary, Barthou was not just Louis Barthou at that time, but France.”

July 14, 1789, was the day the Bastille fell, marking the start of the French Revolution, a turning point in European history.

In Serbia, the day is marked with a traditional ceremony of honoring French soldiers who were killed in the liberation of Serbia in World War I and the laying of a wreath at the monument of thanks to France in Kalemegdan park.