Last evening, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac opened Herzegovina Evening in Vienna within Herzegovina Days, saying that also with this move, the Serbs of Herzegovina demonstrated their desire to affirm the traditional values of the Serbian people with dignity at every step.

Košarac said that Mostar Serbs were gathered around the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ and the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society Prosvjeta and that there was a great desire to preserve Serbian values in that area, to preserve the roots.

He thanked the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has been a gathering place for the people for centuries, as well as the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, for everything he did for the Serbian people.

Košarac reminded the gathering of the need for unity of the Serbian people and for gathering around the same goal, which was best demonstrated, according to him, by the Pan-Serbian Assembly and its resulting conclusions.

He stated that the Republic of Srpska was proud of its people’s capacity and its many friends in the world, such as Russia, Belarus, and China.

Speaking about Herzegovina, Košarac said it was a region that would only now show all its economic, cultural, and human resources, but also that Herzegovinian municipalities were slowly developing and that Trebinje was the best example of this.

He noted that the development and progress were greatly owed to Srpska’s institutions, which provided full support to the people in that area.

Košarac thanked the Herzegovinians who had left their hearths for not forgetting and not renouncing the Republic of Srpska, for believing in Srpska and its institutions.

He commended Srpska’s Representative Office in Austria working intensively to connect and promote the values of the Serbian people.

‘This is an opportunity also to reiterate our fundamental position to develop our policies that are gathered around the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and Milorad Dodik. This is the policy that was verified at the Pan-Serbian Assembly with a very clear ambition to say also here in the heart of Europe, that the Serbian people are libertarian, that they cherish their tradition, that they are gathered around their policies and around the Serbian Orthodox Church,’ said Košarac.

According to him, Serbian policy is oriented towards the virtues of the Serbian people, which are freedom, ambitions to be promoters of peace and regional cooperation.

‘I believe the policies of presidents Dodik and Vučić are within this context,’ said Košarac.

‘Based on the policies it proclaims, Srpska is among the 10 most important investment destinations, and this speaks about the policy of President Dodik and Government of Srpska,’ Košarac added.

‘I hope these events become a tradition. We started with Herzegovina, for next year we are planning also Semberija, Krajina and Podrinje. The Republic of Srpska is its people,’ said the Head of the Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Austria, Mladen Filipović.

He greeted especially the representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Žitomislić Monastery and thanked the abbot of the Monastery, Danilo Pavlović, for the Serbian people, who had been dominant in Mostar for centuries, rising again.

‘We value all our friends and partners, but we never forget and will not forget our tradition, culture, script and language,’ said Filipović, adding that Serbs are a libertarian people.

He invited Serbian associations to preserve Serbian tradition and Serbs, to respect everyone, but not to give up their own.

Herzegovina Evening was attended, among others, by BiH Ambassador to Austria, Siniša Bencun, representatives of the City of Trebinje, municipality of Bileća, Serbian Educational and Cultural Society Prosvjeta Mostar, representatives of the Russian Federation to the UN and the OSCE, and Latvian diplomatic mission in Austria.

On Saturday, the Cultural and Artistic Society Alat from Trebinje will perform in Graz at the New Year’s concert Preserve Serbian Customs, organized by the Graz Cultural and Artistic Society Sveti Sava.

Source and photo: SRNA