Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

European Basketball Championship is proof that Serbia-Montenegro is in Europe, and Europe here

Belgrade, 15 September 2005

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said late on Thursday, opening the European Basketball Championships, that the many days of basketball ahead of us will provide an opportunity to show once more the hospitable, friendly and sporting spirit of the country and to prove that Serbia-Montenegro is Europe and that Europe is in our country.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica

The official website of the Serbian government brings the full speech of Prime Minister Kostunica:

Dear Guests and Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the basketball land! It is no coincidence that today we have gathered here, in Mali Kalemegdan, where everything started a few decades ago. It was here that some boys made their first steps on the basketball court and the first throw through the hoop at the time. It was exactly here that first games were played, which I, too, watched from these walls. What followed is a legend already.

Owing to one generation of basketball champions after another, here, in the basketball land, we have become even more proud to belong to this nation, even in the hardest of times. All their victories, all the medals and titles, have become part of us, a sign that we can do better, that hard times will be gone, and that we are strong and determined enough for the highest achievements.

The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro has an honour to host the largest European basketball competition. On behalf of the Organisational Committee and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, I wish a warm welcome to all competitors and guests, confident that you will be surrounded with sincere friendship in this country.

As sports contests, when genuine, bring out the best in people, challenging their limits, to organise an event of this scope poses a very special challenge to the host country, and a test for all its potentials.

Working ardently hand in hand, we did our best to be up to the great honour bestowed on us. It is also our wish to use this opportunity to remind our friends in Europe who we are and what we can do to contribute to a shared European future.

Honorary Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Borislav Stankovic opened the Championship

The days of basketball ahead of us will give us a chance to demonstrate again the hospitality, companionship and true sports spirit of our country and testify that Serbia and Montenegro is Europe, and that Europe is here.

The European Basketball Championship is the most important sports event in this country in the past few decades.

I believe that Belgrade, Podgorica, Novi Sad and Vrsac will be as good hosts as they have always been, that the games will attract a large number of sports fans to enjoy and cheer, and that all our citizens will act as ambassadors of their own country, worthy of its centuries-old tradition of hospitality.

To all competitors, friends of sports, guests and spectators I wish this championship to develop in the spirit of fierce but fair competition. Let the best team win, but let sports and friendship be the true, all-time winners.