MP Marjana Maras, member of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, took part in the conference “Serbs in the Region and Serbia – Prospects” in Timisoara, Romania, 17-18 November 2017.
The conference was attended by over 20 representatives of Serbian associations from the region: Romania, Hungary, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, the Republic of Srpska and Montenegro.
On the behalf of the President of the Republic of Serbia the conference was attended by Prof. Dr Nikola Selakovic, the President’s Secretary General, who informed the attending about Serbia’s work especially on the position of fellow Serbs living in the region and briefed them on the initiative to pass the Declaration on the survival of the Serbian people, preservation of the Serbian language and culture. On the behalf of the Romanian Government, Interethnic Relations Department, the conference was attended by Eniko Katalin Lacziko, in charge of national minority affairs, and on the behalf of the Timisoara Eparchy the gathering was blessed by His Holiness, archpriest Marinko Markov. The conference was attended by Vladan Tadic, Serbian Consul General in Timisoara.
On the behalf of the National Assembly and the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, MP Marjana Maras commended the efforts of the conference and reminded the attending of the Committee’s work and support, in cooperation with other state bodies, in finding ways to improve the position of Serbs in the countries in the region. Since these problems differ from country to country the participants agreed to write down the essence of these problems by the end of next week and give concrete proposals how to solve the most prominent. The conclusions of the participants of the conference stated the following: they fully support the initiative to pass the Declaration on the survival of the Serbian people, preservation of the Serbian language and culture; they demand from the mother country to simplify the procedure for gaining Serbian citizenship; to solve the issue of providing Serbian textbooks for Serbian children in the region; they appeal to the Serbian authorities to re-consider the institutional framework for the mother country’s cooperation with Serbs living outside Serbia and churches, and to institutionalize the conference making it a semi-annual gathering and opportunity to talk with the representatives of Serbs in the region.
The participants of the conference also visited the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Timisoara and the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, and in the evening attended the concert of AKUD “Mladost” in the Capitol Hall in Timisoara.
