On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, the Minister without portfolio in the Government of the Republic of Serbia in charge of coordinating activities and measures in the field of relations with the diaspora, Đorđe Milićević, invited the citizens of Serbia and our people around the world to preserve the Serbian language and the Cyrillic alphabet.

Reminding that Cyrillic has survived for centuries, Milićević said that we should preserve Serbian history, tradition, culture and identity, and write as we speak, noting that we did not need the new, modern foreign abbreviations.

Let us preserve our Cyrillic also through the coming centuries, as our ancestors have preserved it, he said and added that, precisely in order to preserve the language and script, thousands of Cyrillic primers and reading materials have been donated over the past year to students of Serbian supplementary schools throughout Europe.

The observance of International Mother Language Day was declared at the UNESCO General Conference in 1999 and is practiced worldwide since 2000.

Director of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, Arnaud Gouillon, invited the Serbs scattered around the world to preserve their identity by speaking Serbian with their children and enrolling them in supplementary schools, whose opening and operation is the Directorate’s particular engagement.

He said this on the occasion of International Mother Language Day and added that knowledge of the Serbian language was a prerequisite for the return of our diaspora families to the country, which had great demographic potential, reads the Directorate’s statement.

‘Three years ago, the Directorate launched a mother language preservation campaign, and to that end, we opened 34 Serbian language supplementary schools around the world, where our people live. A growing number of students attend these schools, and we continue the action in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia,’ Gouillon said.

International Mother Language Day is celebrated on 21 February to raise awareness of the importance of language and script preservation.

Source: Government of the Republic of Serbia – Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region

Photo: Ministry of Culture