The inscription “To France” on the monument was daubed with black paint, according to an Agence-France-Press photojournalist in Belgrade. Mr Vučić told the press that he was “upset” over the fact Kosovo’s leader Hashim Thaçi had been seated directly behind France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and America’s Donald Trump for the ceremony, while he was made to sit separately. The Serbian leader complained, unlike his Kosovan counterpart, he had been seated in a grandstand apparently reserved for non-VIP guests.
“You can imagine how I felt. I had a lump in my throat,” local media quoted Mr Vučić as saying.
He said: “I feel as though I spent the entire ceremony staring at the floor and at the screen, unable to believe what was happening, knowing the price paid in blood by the people of Serbia in the First World War.”
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Serbia has still not recognised it as a sovereign state and relations between the two remain incredibly tense.
Belgrade and Pristina committed to an EU-sponsored dialogue in 2013 but little progress has been made.
In September, the two leaders abruptly called off a face-to-face meeting brokered by the European Union’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini aimed at normalising bilateral relations, deflating hopes of a reconciliation.
Mr Vučić said: “Who drew up the seating plan? I really don’t know. But kicking up a fuss there …made little sense.”
France’s ambassador to Serbia, Frédéric Mondoloni, has since apologised for the diplomatic blunder.
France’s embassy in Belgrade tweeted later on Monday: “Asked to comment on the armistice ceremony seating arrangements, the ambassador stressed that it was a clumsy mistake that France deeply regrets, and wants Belgrade to know that Paris recognises the key role the Serbs played in the outcome of the Great War.”
Serbia suffered terrible losses proportional to the size of its army in the First World War, with 130,000 dead and 135,000 wounded.
Paris set out to treat Mr Vučić “with all the honours due to his rank,” a French diplomatic source added.
Mr Vučić, for his part, promised to rise above the incident and prepare a “spectacular welcome” for Mr Macron, who is due to travel to Belgrade next month.
Serbia suffered the worst losses proportional to the size of its army in World War One, losing three quarters of its forces: 130,000 Serbians were killed in the conflict, while another 135,000 were wounded.