Minister for Diaspora Srdjan Sreckovic said that the government adopted a national strategy for preserving and strengthening relations between the homeland and diaspora and the homeland and the Serbs in the region.

He said that the key message of this strategy is that Serbia today can be a modern and democratic country that respects international law, but also a country that regains its credibility to legitimise their national interests and, among other things, build closer relations – economic, cultural and political – with approximately four million of its citizens living on all five continents.

The Minister said that the national strategy has defined five key objectives to be achieved in policy towards diaspora:

1) Positioning of Serbia as the homeland of all its citizens living abroad and Serbs in the region, as well as members of the Serbian nation of emigrants from the Republic of Serbia and the region and their descendants;

2) Systematic, organised and joint activities of Serbia, its diaspora and Serbs in the region to improve Serbia’s image, the goal of which is to make every diaspora member and every Serb in the region aware that they are ambassadors and representatives of Serbia and the Serbian people, and that each of them among their friends, colleagues and officials of the states they live in should give their share to boost Serbia’s image;

3) Better exploitation of the diaspora’s capacity and Serbs in the region to encourage Serbia’s economic development by strengthening its scientific, technological, cultural, educational and sport potential and through the support of the diaspora and Serbs in the region to its integration processes and the promotion of good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation;

4) The preservation of the Serbian national identity in the entire world, with special effort on the preservation of the Serbian language and the Cyrillic script in the diaspora;

5) Familiarising the domestic public with the capacity and the large contribution which the Serbian diaspora can offer to Serbia’s overall development.