On the occasion of the commemoration of one hundred years since the end of the World War I, and honouring the Serbia-Canada allied relationship in the Great War, the Diplomatic Academy welcomed General Lewis MacKenzie and Mr. Scott Taylor, a journalist, publicist and owner of "Esprit de Corps" - an influential Canadian military magazine, who each gave a talk to Diplomatic Academy students.

General MacKenzie spoke about his experiences in the Balkans while he was on the UNPROFOR mission, while Scott Taylor discussed the importance of morals among a group of individuals in the case of Medak Pocket and Kosovo and Metohija.

The event was also attended by Dr Ivana Lucic, a descendant of Field Marshal Stepa Stepanovic and by Dr Slobodanka Grkovic, a descendant of Milunka Savic, the "Iron Lady of the Iron Regiment". On this occasion they were delivered the "Serbia-Canada Great War allied relationship" certificates of appreciation and Natalie's Ramonda badges.

Speaking about the allied ties in the Great War, General MacKenzie pointed to the fact that the first victim of the war was a Serb, Dusan Djonovic, and that the last victim was the Canadian soldier George Lawrence Price of the 28th Battalion, Saskatchewan North West Regiment. Recounting his experiences while on the UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said that he had left Canada with a certain preconception, but that, on the ground, he had encountered something completely different to what was being reported, but that he believed that his military ethics made it incumbent upon him to act in an honourable manner, thus maintaining a fair attitude towards the Serbs, which was met with disapproval by the other side and frequent allegations of his bias in favour of Serbs. General MacKenzie, however, noted that he would do the same even today and listen to his conscience.

Scott Taylor said that Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry had suffered losses in the Medak Pocket being forced to return fire to the Croats who had attacked civilians, and added that these soldiers received highest state honours back in Canada. On the issue of Kosovo and Metohija he stressed that, as a former soldier, he found the formation of a Kosovo army to be inadmissible, because it would be headed by crime-prone individuals who had committed atrocious crimes against the civilians, both their own and non-Albanians.

Accompanied by Coordinator for the preservation of the Serbian diplomatic corps tradition, Ambassador Dr Ljiljana Niksic, the guests visited the Museum of Serbian Diplomacy and, on that occasion, gifted to the Library of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, signed copies of the book "Peacekeeper" by Lewis MacKenzie, his memoir of the time spent on UNPROFOR and in BiH, as well as "Inat (bloody-mindedness)" by Scott Taylor, presenting his view of the events in Kosovo and Metohija.

Finally, they visited the Alley of the Greats and memorials devoted to Serbian military leaders and Milunka Savic, and also laid wreaths at the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade.