The lecture Serbian National Interests: Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow was held in Vienna.

The topics of Serbian history and statehood, and Serbia’s position in geopolitical and regional frameworks were discussed by Professor Darko Tanasković, PhD, Professor Dragan Simeunović, PhD, Professor Branko Rakić, PhD, Professor Čedomir Antić, PhD, and opinion journalist and director Dragoslav Bokan.

The lecture was opened by the Serbian Ambassador to Austria, Marko Blagojević, and the gathering was organized by the office of the Government of Serbia’s minister without portfolio in charge of monitoring the situation, proposing measures and taking part in the coordination of activities in the field of relations with the diaspora, Serbian Embassy in Austria, and Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Austria.

Only if we know today who and what we are, what our national identity is at the overall Serbian body level, and if we start solving existential problems on that basis, can we know where we will be tomorrow and that we will arrive where we are going, said Professor Darko Tanasković at the lecture Serbian National Interests: Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow in Vienna.

– It is very important to shed light on where we are today in order to know where we might be tomorrow. The question of where we will be tomorrow, naturally, does not depend solely on us, but on the set of circumstances on the international level, and it is difficult to predict anything with certainty – said Tanasković.

That is why, he adds, the initiative of the office of the minister without portfolio in charge of the diaspora is important, because its purpose is precisely taking the first steps at the level of the overall Serbian national body towards self-knowledge at this moment.

To the question of where we are tomorrow, Professor Dragan Simeunović stated that ‘every progress is slow and gradual, while only falls, failures, and catastrophes are sudden’. He said that a people could not progress suddenly, but step by step.

– We must continue to fight for a better tomorrow, for the people and the state, step by step, taking care at all times of our national interests. Our important national interest is to achieve equality with other nations, to convince them that we are better than they think we are and to prove it – said Simeunović.

Professor Branko Rakić believes that Serbia will ‘be in a good place’ tomorrow.

– Throughout history, we have always been a people on the right side of history. Even amid some difficulties, being on the right side of history, it is still good that, by holding on to our dignity, honorable role, friendly relations with everyone, we do not harm anyone. Where we made mistakes throughout history, we have been one of the rare nations in the region ready to admit it – noted Rakić.

Professor Čedomir Antić said that Serbia was facing many challenges, the most important being that demographic.

– The most important challenge faced by the whole world, only some countries in Asia, Africa will grasp it in 40 years, and European countries already understand it – is demographic collapse. We are losing 63,000 people a year. We are not alone, but it will have to be solved in same way in the coming period. I fear us falling victims, but the authorities of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska have recognized it. And whether they know how to solve it is a separate issue – said Antić.

To the question of where we will be tomorrow, the opinion journalist and director Dragoslav Bokan replied that tomorrow ‘with the new government, we would head into the restoration and preservation of the state, without which we could not exist’.

– The weakest link in our history is the attitude towards the state. We have preserved our attitude towards freedom, justice, youth, ourselves, family, ancestors and it is easy for us to understand, but when we need to defend the state, that is when we get confused… is the government the state, should one fight a war for the state… and then morale begins to decline – said Bokan.

Source: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in the Republic of Austria – VESTI online

Photo: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in the Republic of Austria