Serbian Government’s minister without portfolio in charge of coordinating activities and measures in the field of relations with the diaspora, Đorđe Milićević, signed 13 agreements yesterday in Banja Luka on financial support of the Government of Serbia for projects to preserve the Serbian language and alphabet and to strengthen Serbian national and cultural identity in the Republic of Srpska and BiH.

The agreements were signed at a meeting at the Consulate General of Serbia in Banja Luka with representatives of Serbian associations and non-governmental organizations from the Republic of Srpska and BiH.

The Government of Serbia announced that 79 million dinars /675,563 euros/ had been allocated for this support program.

At the public competition where 311 associations and organizations had participated, 104 of them met the requirements and as a result signed the agreements.

The financial support program is classified into several distinct measures aimed at preserving the cultural and national identity of the compatriots living outside Serbia’s borders, with largest portion of the funding intended for the procurement of equipment for cultural and artistic societies, textbooks and reading materials for Serbian supplementary schools, and sports equipment for Serbian clubs in the diaspora.

After signing the agreements, Milićević said that peace, stability, economy and, above all, unity were the national interests and goals of the Serbian people in the 21st century.

He emphasized that Serbia’s strength had always been equal to its unitedness, and told the compatriots living outside Serbia to be united wherever they were.

– The Pan-Serbian Assembly was a great event for the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, at the initiative of President Aleksandar Vučić and President Milorad Dodik. To my great satisfaction, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed with the Ministry of European Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Srpska, with Mr /Zlatan/ Klokić, within the Pan-Serbian Assembly – said Milićević.

He explained that this memorandum actually implied defining and strengthening, and creating even stronger ties between the motherland and compatriots living outside Serbia.

– I always say that the Drina has never been the river separating the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, but the backbone uniting them. One of our shared goals is to preserve our language, our Cyrillic alphabet, culture, history, identity and tradition – emphasized Milićević and expressed his belief in continuation of this cooperation.

Source: RTRS – SRNA

Photo: SRNA