Qualifications for this year’s European music festival for mentally disabled persons in Graz, Austria, were held for the first time at the Belgrade Bosko Buha theatre.
Opening the competition, Assistant Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Policy at the Department for Protection of Persons with Disability Sladjana Markovic congratulated all finalists and added that they are all already winners, but that just one of them will represent the country at the final competition in Graz.
According to her, the Department for Protection of Persons with Disability initiated the competition while the Serbian Ministry of Culture also took part in the organisation.
The competition will certainly become a tradition, as it is a good opportunity to promote equal opportunities in Serbia, Markovic told the Tanjug news agency.
She added that there are 20 finalists from institutions and invalid organisations from all over Serbia and noted that she was especially pleased to have a representative of the Serb community from Kosovo-Metohija.