The 2025 Lopare Diaspora Days event opened officially in Priboj with a folklore show.

The fourteenth Diaspora Days, organized under the auspices of the Municipality of Lopare and the Association of Majevicans in Switzerland, was opened by the head of the local community, Rado Savić.

He said that the essence of the event being held under the slogan Majevica is Calling this year, was for Majevicans to help each other as the homeland needed the support of its people who are successful, scattered around the world and can support their native land with their knowledge, ideas and investments.

‘We will help them preserve their Serbian identity because nowadays it is really difficult to preserve the issue of identity and language, which is very important for us,’ Savić said.

Irena Lukić, president of the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society Prosvjeta Lopare, presented certificates of appreciation to the representatives of the cultural and artistic societies that had participated in the Festival.

‘Four cultural and artistic societies from Velika Obarska, Ugljevik, Priboj and Lopare participated in the Folklore Festival,’ said Lukić.

A Business Forum was held at the Lopare Cultural Center, organized by the municipal administration and the Association of Majevicans in Switzerland on the occasion of the Diaspora Days.

The head of Lopare Municipality, Rado Savić, said that the meeting discussed projects in agriculture, livestock farming development, goat cheese production and potential in regional tourism development, and presented the results of work on biodiversity research on Majevica.

‘The Municipality of Lopare should continue to seek investors in the fields of agriculture and tourism, because no matter how much technology and the IT sector develop, people have to eat food, and we can be producers if we use this untouched nature,’ Savić conveyed the conclusion of the meeting.

Vaso Vasić from Tobut, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates for 23 years, said that he had launched a project on Majevica. ‘Considering it as a clean ecological environment, I launched a goat farm project and we have already reached 200 and will go up to 400 goats, and then we will spread it through individual agricultural holdings,’ said Vasić, who is finalizing works on a dairy and cheese factory.

The fair of local products and handicrafts, traditionally organized as the final part of the Diaspora Days event, gathered a large number of exhibitors and visitors.

The Swiss Ambassador to BiH, Gabriele Derighetti, who visited the municipality of Lopare on the occasion of the Diaspora Days, officially opened the fair.

‘I know that many citizens of Lopare and this region live in my country. I want to thank them for the contribution they make, but also for having integrated so well, not only as football players, which is evident in our national team, but also in various segments of society and economy, and increasingly in politics,’ said Derighetti.

‘Majevica invited its Majevicans from all over the world, they responded and our hearts are full, these are the most successful Diaspora Days so far,’ said Savić.

The fair featured local products made in the areas of Majevica, Posavina, Semberija, Serbia and the wider region.

Source and photo: Lopare Municipality