The poet Matija Bećković, who was awarded the "Kočić Award" for 2024 by the Association of Writers of the Republika Srpska, told Srna that Kočić's question: "Do you go stork?" still echoes today in all and under all Serbian mountains, and assessed that the libertarian spirit of Kočić nothing can destroy the nation.

He emphasized that when he first stood several decades ago in front of Kočić's monument in Banja Luka, on which his words were engraved: "Whoever sincerely and passionately loves truth, freedom and fatherland, is free and fearless like God, and despised and hungry like dog", saw that this nation was invincible.

- Kočić is not only one of the greatest Serbian writers, but he is also our contemporary and one of the most lively ones we have - Bećković believes.

He points out that, unfortunately, "moans from Zmijanje" can still be heard, but as long as there are Branko Ćopić, Đura Damjanović, Rajko Noga, Mome Kapor there will also be Kočić's sons.

Bećković says that he is convinced that even today a new Kočić is growing in the territory of Krajina and Republika Srpska, because the libertarian spirit of that people lives on.

Bećković stated that he was informed by the Writers' Association of Republika Srpska that the award will be presented to him in the last week of August, when a cultural manifestation dedicated to the writer Petar Kočić - Kočić's choir - is traditionally held in Banja Luka and on Kočić's Zmijanje.

Source: RTRS