Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej said Tuesday in Gracanica, central Kosovo, that Kosovo and Metohija is a blessed country in which there is room for all people of good will, and pointed out that greatest possible effort should be made so that it remains a part of Serbia, as it has always been throughout history.

"Today, when so many hands are stretched towards Kosovo, we cannot and will never accept that Kosovo be snatched away from us. This is a holy Serbian land soaked with blood and cemented with the bones of holy martyrs.

The price paid with blood is the highest price one can pay. That is the price which was paid for Kosovo," Orthodox Patriarch Irinej said addressing the believers after a holy liturgy at the Gracanica Monastery held on the occasion of St. Vitus' Day.

"We have to do all we can so that Kosovo remains ours, Serbian, just as it has always been throughout history. This is time of tempests, of force. But that will soon pass, because the eternal sun of freedom shines upon this land and all the pople that live on it," Patriarch Irinej said.

St. Vitus liturgy held in Gracanica Monastery

The St. Vitus' liturgy at the Gracanica Monastery was attended by over 1,000 Serbs from all parts of Serbia, as well as from Montenegro, Republika Srpska and FYRMacedonia.

Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic, State Secretaries with the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic and Zvonimir Stevic, Serbian party officials, public and cultural figures were also present.

The highlight of the day was the memorial service that held in Gazimestan, a monument commemorating the historical Battle of Kosovo, where tribute paid to the Serbs killed on St. Vitus' Day in 1389.

The memorial service held by Patriarch Irinej.

Two people suffered light injuries when a group of stone-throwing Kosovo Albanians attacked buses carrying Serbs returning from Gazimestan, BETA was told by Kosovo police sources.

Kosovo police also arrested five Serbs for throwing stones at police on their way back from a St. Vitus Day ceremony held in Gazimestan.

The ceremony continued by granting rewards to families with four or more children.

Krusevac: Ceremony marking the 622nd anniversary of the Kosovo Battle

The Serbian Government Committee for Cherishing the Traditions of Liberation Wars organized in Krusevac, a town in central Serbia, near the Monument to Kosovo Serb Heroes, a commemorative ceremony marking the 622nd anniversary of the Kosovo Battle.

In the Serbian national history, the Kosovo Battle represents a turning-point after the flourishing period of the rule of the Serbian royal dynasty if Nemanjic, it was emphasized at the ceremony, which was attended by a large number of citizens.

The state secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Negovan Stanković, emphasized that Krusevac had been the capital of Serbia at the time of the Kosovo Battle, in 1389 and it was from that town that the Serbian army left for Kosovo.

Wreaths were laid by representatives of the Serbian Defence Ministry and the Serbian Army, the Krusevac authorities and representatives of the Rasina District, the Association of War Veterans and delegations of sister towns from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and the Republic of Srpska.

Vidovdan, 28 June, the day of the Battle of Kosovo, is also observed as the day of the Krusevac town, which is celebrating the 640th anniversary of its foundation this year.