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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Ministry for Diaspora’s delegation on two-day visit to Kosovo-Metohija

Belgrade, 13 July 2007

A delegation of the Ministry for Diaspora headed by Minister Milica Cubrilo will visit Kosovo-Metohija on July 13 and 14.

The Ministry says in a statement that since members of the Serbian Diaspora have shown great interest for the situation in the province, the aim of this visit is to find a way to involve Serbs from abroad in the revival of the cultural heritage and cultural institutions in the province by reinstating the practice of benefactors of churches and monasteries, as well as classical ways of investing.

The occasion for this trip is the visit to the reconstructed monastery of Zociste at the invitation of head of the Djurdjevi Stupovi monastery Father Petar.

The Zociste monastery, also known as Saint Kozma and Damjan’s monastery, is frequented by both Serbs and ethnic Albanians and is a symbol of a better life and joint future on this territory based upon mutual respect.

The reconstruction of the Zociste monastery was financed by the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija together with donations from benefactors in Serbia and the Diaspora, adds the statement and stresses that this is the first reconstructed monastery out of 150 monasteries and churches destroyed in the past several years in the province.

The Ministry delegation, which also includes Assistant Minister Tanja Garcevic and Ministry Secretary Bojan Djuric, will present the Ministry’s plans and propose concrete projects.

One of the plans is to improve vine growing around Velika Hoca because a number of Serbs in this region has been selling their vineyards to Albanians and moving from the province.

By way of benefactor donations and classical investments by the Diaspora, the spatial wholeness of this region should be preserved through improvement of vine growing and tourism development.

What makes Velika Hoca extraordinary even today is a large number of preserved churches dating from the 12th and 14th centuries, as well as facilities of traditional architecture from the 19th century which together form a priceless cultural and historical complex, adds the statement.