The conference on Serbia and Serbs in the Region was held on 25 October 2022 in Matica Srpska in Novi Sad, gathering over 30 representatives of organizations and institutions from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Romania, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

The goal of the conference was to strengthen mutual ties and improve cooperation between institutions from Serbia and Serbs in the region, and the topic was the preservation of the linguistic and cultural identity of the Serbian people in the countries of the region.

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and His Eminence Bishop of Bačka Irinej attended the conference, where Serbian Patriarch Porfirije addressed the participants: ‘I am glad that we have gathered here today and especially because of the fact that this assembly was organized in Matica Srpska, which in itself already says a lot, without any explanations or analyses, and that is the fact that, although our people are located in various countries, in different social and political systems, still they draw the content of their identity from what the motherland is, they draw it from the roots, and it is logical that this – in the political and administrative sense of the word – is Serbia. And Matica Srpska in Serbia is indeed, in the truest sense of the word, a matica (queen bee) – in a beehive in which we are all arranged, each by our own gift, but also by God’s providence, to not only nurture and preserve the same and unique identity, but to live with that identity, regardless of where we are. Throughout history, Matica Srpska has served that goal and, thank God, it still serves the same goal in multiple ways today, and I am certain it will be the same in the future. I congratulate the organizers and I rejoice that this gathering is organized in Matica Srpska in Novi Sad, in the Serbian Athens’.

The Fund for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Cooperation with Serbs in the Region organized the third consecutive meeting with over 100 homeland associations, organizations and institutions in Novi Sad.

‘It is a great honor and pleasure to gather in one place over 100 associations registered in the Republic of Serbia, which implement their programs both in Serbia and in the region. I am also glad that there are a large number of institutions here, which, like the Fund, support the work of these associations’ – said Duško Ćutilo, director of the Fund for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Cooperation with Serbs in the Region.

Source: Fund for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Cooperation with Serbs in the Region

Photo: Serbian Orthodox Church (spc.rs)