The National Council of Serbs in Slovenia will officially be founded on 1 October as the umbrella organisation gathering 30 different organisations and two alliances. Branislav Rajic, member of Slovenia’s Parliament (Drzavni zbor) and Deputy Chair of its Committee on Foreign Policy, believes that the association of intellectuals, artists and businessmen into a National Council would contribute to the strengthening of the Serbian community in Slovenia and help them reach their primary goal more easily – gain the status of national minority.

Committee Chairman MA Ivan Kostic endorsed the initiative for the establishment of the National Council stressing that it fits with the Committee’s plan to set up an assembly of Serb MPs in the diaspora.

“I believe that the establishment of a National Council would facilitate reaching the goal of gaining the status of national minority and cooperation and communication between the mother country and the diaspora”, said Kostic.

Committee Deputy Chairman Miodrag Linta said that gaining the status of national minority is not the only open issue for Serbs in Slovenia, adding to it the lack of Serbian language and Cyrillic scrip from Slovenia’s education system as another. He commended the establishment of the National Council of Serbs in Slovenia, sure that it can greatly contribute to the fostering of ties and cooperation between Serbs in the diaspora and the mother country.

The meeting was also attended by Dr Biljana Zikic, executive director of the Serbian Cultural Centre “Danilo Kis” in Ljubljana, who also drew attention to the problematic lack of media in the Serbian language. Nikola Todorovic, member of the Slovenian Government Council for national minorities of the people of former SFRY, invited Kostic to the founding assembly of the National Council of Serbs in Slovenia.

“We want to be the bridge between the mother country and the diaspora and we believe we can achieve this through the National Council”, believes Todorovic.

Kostic assured the representatives of the Serbian community in Slovenia that he will, as the Council President, press all the relevant institutions which can contribute to the improvement and expansion of cooperation between the Serbs in the diaspora and the mother country.