Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region Milimir Vujadinovic and Committee member Sanja Lakic met with the Director of the Returnee Support and Assistance Centre from Bosanski Petrovac Nemanja Davidovic and the President of Serbian Association Posavina Damir Ivetic. The topic of the meeting was the position of the Serbian people in the Una-Sana and Posavina cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and further aid measures.
The the President of Serbian Association Posavina Damir Ivetic pointed out the alarming fact that in the past year, the Serbian people have been on the verge of disappearing from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stressed that currently only five to six municipalities are inhabited by Serbs, expressing hope that this meeting would result in guidelines on how to tackle this burning problem.
Ivetic thanked the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic for the assistance announced for the municipalities of Sokolac, Rudo, Visegrad, Nevesinje and Bileca, stressing that more than just financial assistance, this also sends a strong message to the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina that the motherland is with them.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region Milimir Vujadinovic expressed his belief that the Open Balkans initiative is the best way to stop the displacement of Serbs, as well as all other peoples from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina as it would lead to better living conditions for everyone. He stressed that this initiative provides the possibility of an unhindered flow of goods and services, quality and functional infrastructure and greater connectivity with the Republic of Serbia, for both the Serbian and all other nations in the Federation, which would create a better economic and political climate.
Vujadinovic praised the President’s decision to continue providing aid to the Republic of Srpska, emphasising the importance of helping the individual, through mechanization, camps, improvement of education, which can significantly influence the Serbs' decision not to leave their centuries-old hearths.
Thanking the motherland for its help, he Director of the Returnee Support and Assistance Centre from Bosanski Petrovac Nemanja Davidovic emphasised the importance of its continuity, which enables better planning of projects. He was also interested in the Draft Law on Interstate Humanitarian Aid and was assured by the Committee Deputy Chairman he would get information about the stage of the draft law from relevant institutions.
Committee member Sanja Lakic suggested that, in order to organise the provision of aid as efficiently as possible, relevant institutions and ministries should have a meeting with representatives of Serbs from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina to discuss concrete projects and how they can be realised.
