The Chairman of the Serbian Parliament’s Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, Milimir Vujadinović, suggested that members of the Slovenian Parliament consider the possibility for Serbs in Slovenia, as an autochthonous people, to declare their nationality in the census and to be enabled to acquire the status of a national minority as the most numerous people in Slovenia after Slovenes.

He spoke in Ljubljana with MPs Robert Polnar, Chair of the Committee on Finance, and Dušan Šišak, chair of the commission for Slovenes in the diaspora and world, and the meeting was also attended by representatives of Serbian associations, Vladimir Kokanović and Zlatomir Bodiroža.

Zmago Jelinčić, the president of the Slovenian National Party, also joined the meeting by phone.

Vujadinović told Srna that the conversation focused on the position of the Serbian community in Slovenia, which, according to estimates, numbers between 70,000 and 150,000 people.

He added that the possibility of approving dual citizenship for Serbs was also discussed, as well as other issues important for the Serbian community.

– Our interlocutors had a friendly and constructive approach and understanding for the topics we came for. They pointed out that they did not shy away from talking about those topics and that they would initiate them in further discussions, aware of Serbs being an indigenous people in Slovenia and perhaps the most sincere and true allies of the Slovenian state and people. We are very grateful to our friends for their approach and understanding, because this is also the first time that these topics were raised in the Slovenian Parliament with a joint appearance of representatives of Serbia and our united associations – Vujadinović noted.

He stated that the representatives of Serbian associations, Vladimir Kokanović and Zlatomir Bodiroža, presented their wishes and needs of the people in the right way, emphasizing that Slovenia was their country and that they wanted it to progress even faster with the help of the Serbian community.

They noted that they were proud of the state of Serbia and its progress, and that as a community they wanted to contribute to the development of Slovenian society because Slovenia was their homeland also.

– This is the first joint appearance of our associations after signing of the declaration on joint cooperation, and it is obvious that only united, assisted by the motherland of Serbia and its president Aleksandar Vučić, can we expect results for our people – said Vujadinović.

Source: SRNA

Photo: Magločistač