The Committee Chairman welcomed the Serb MP of the Vienna Assembly Nemanja Damnjanovic, first representative of Serbs from the diaspora to come to visit the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region. “I hope this will be a fruitful meeting that results in many positive effects on the relationship between the Committee and the diaspora in Austria”, said Kostic.

Nemanja Damnjanovic said that about 300,000 Serbs live in Austria and drew attention to the problem between the motherland and the diaspora which is an insufficient investment of capital into Serbia. He said that Serbs living in Austria are politically inactive so steps should be taken to raise awareness on the need for their active participation. He suggested opening a Serbian school in Vienna which would contribute to the preservation of Serbian children’s identity.

Committee Chairman MA Ivan Kostic said that cooperation between the motherland and the diaspora could greatly contribute to the preservation of national identity, language, script and culture. He said that the Committee, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will launch an initiative to set up Serbian umbrella organisations in the diaspora for the purpose of achieving common goals such as the preservation of national identity, language, Cyrillic script and culture.

MP Aleksandar Cotric suggested setting up a coordinating body i.e. an interparliamentary organisation comprising all Serb MPs from the region of South Eastern Europe to consider common problems, exchange experiences and information. He will be suggesting to the Committee members that the first meeting be scheduled for autumn in Belgrade and that subsequent meetings be held on a quarterly level.