Around 750 children and educators from Kosovo and Metohija arrived at the Stanišići Ethno Village in Bijeljina. Kamenički biseri, a choir from Kosovo and Metohija, opened the welcome ceremony.

– Kosovo and Metohija is loved and defended with deeds, and the people and institutions of the Republic of Srpska have been doing this for fourteen years by hosting Kosmet children in Srpska’s local communities – said the president of the Kosovo and Metohija Aid Committee, Mirolad Arlov, at the main welcome ceremony in Bijeljina.

He stated that this year, within the project Bringing together the children of Kosovo and Metohija and the Republic of Srpska, around 800 children and their teachers from Kosmet would spend seven days in 20 cities and municipalities of the Republic of Srpska thanks to Srpska’s institutions, local communities, primary schools and around 700 families in the Republic of Srpska. The Committee for Assistance to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija has been organizing the Bringing together the children of Kosovo and Metohija and the Republic of Srpska project since 2012. The guests from Kosmet will stay until 26 June in Trebinje, Foča, Istočno Novo Sarajevo, Istočna Ilidža, Vlasenica, Zvornik, Bijeljina, Šamac, Brod, Modriča, Petrovo, Teslić, Prnjavor, Čelinac, Gradiška, Banja Luka, Laktaši, Kozarska Dubica, Kostajnica and Prijedor.

At the main welcome ceremony, the guests were greeted by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Anđelka Kuzmić, representatives of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region of the Serbian Foreign Affairs Ministry, His Eminence Metropolitan Fotije of Zvornik and Tuzla, and the President of the Bijeljina City Assembly, Željana Arsenović.

On behalf of Prime Minister Savo Minić and Srpska Government, Kuzmić welcomed the children from Kosovo and Metohija, saying that the children and their families, as well as all Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija, should know that the Republic of Srpska is also their country. Arlov thanked especially Metropolitan Fotije for gracing the welcome ceremony, stating that the Serbian Orthodox Church was the greatest support of the Serbian people, in particular in Kosovo and Metohija.

Source and photo: RTRS