The ceremony’s organisors have announced that a special audio-visual spectacle will spread over the sky on the mountain of Avala near Belgrade, where the tower is located. The ceremony’s attendees include Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, and Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas.

After Belgrade lost this symbol, which could be seen from almost every spot in the city, an initiative called “Let’s Build the Avala Tower” was launched by Serbian national broadcaster RTS and the Journalists Association of Serbia.

Construction of the new tower began in 2005 and was completed in November 2009 based on a project of the architects of the old tower: Ugljesa Bogunovic, Slobodan Janjic and Milan Krstic.

At 204.5 meters tall, the new tower is the tallest building in the Balkans. It is illuminated from top to bottom and the electrical equipment installed in the tower represents a state-of-the-art system, one of seven such systems in Europe, the organisors said.

It has 200 prints of hands of the donors and supporters of the “Let’s Build the Avala Tower” initiative including famous painters like Olja Ivanjicki, the country’s top tennis players like Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic, and others.

The country’s minister of environment and spatial planning, Oliver Dulic, said that the Avala Tower has many useful functions, including telecommunication and the establishment of digital television in Serbia, and it will carry signals necessary for military, police, TV and mobile stations.

“Avala Tower is the highest building in the Balkans (…) For this, we are proud. It’s been constructed by national forces and local materials,” Dulic said.

The official opening of the tower was postponed twice  – once due to solidarity with the citizens of Europe who were in mourning over the tragic death of the Polish president and other Polish officials, and a second time due to the bad weather.