Djuric organizes a large gathering of Serbs from the US to strengthen the Serbian position in Washington

The Embassy of Serbia in Washington is organizing a large meeting of the Serbian diaspora on Saturday, the first in more than two decades, Ambassador Marko Djuric said and emphasized that their desire was to bring together Serbian Americans with one goal, one idea, one belief in order to work together to strengthen the Serbian position and presentation of Serbian interests in the US.

We will not miss the chance again in this generation to build a deep foundation of our presence in Washington and throughout the US, the Ambassador told Tanjug in the new Embassy building, a very important historical building in Washington, located less than a mile from the White House.

Ambassador Djuric mentioned people of Serbian origin - not only the Serbs but also everyone from our area, there are more than a million.

"All of them are a valuable resource for improving cooperation between our two countries, they represent a treasure trove of knowledge and capital, possible investment in our country, Djuric said.

As he reminded, the meeting would be a reflection of the clear mandate received from the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, to work on reconnecting the motherland and the Serbian diaspora - emigration, dispersion.

"On Saturday in Washington, in the prestigious Conrad Hotel, for the first time, maybe after more than two decades, in the organization of the Embassy of Serbia with the support of the president and the government, we are holding a large gathering of Serbian Americans - representatives of Serbian organizations from all over America, distinguished individuals and with the participation of representatives of the American political establishment,” Djuric stated.

The participation of high-ranking American officials was also expected, he added.

"I am looking forward to this because the meeting will be an opportunity to get closer to people who are our brothers and sisters - Serbian Americans who care a lot about our homeland, often no less than we who live in it," Djuric said.

Therefore, as he stated, those people should be given the opportunity to have the relationship they deserve with their motherland.

He added that he hoped that their participation in political life in the US would be beneficial to Serbia.

Djuric reminded that the Serbs in the US have 136 churches - their Serbian Orthodox temples.

"If only all those church municipalities would communicate regularly and if their members would also regularly communicate with their elected representatives, the voice of the Serbian community would be heard much more strongly in American political life," Djuric said.

He emphasized that their goal was to achieve what nations that had far greater traditions in lobbying and networking had achieved here.

"We are learning from Jews, Greeks, Armenians, from many others who started it much earlier. That is why we are now proud to point out that on February 18, we will gather a large number of Serbian Americans and their organizations with one goal, one idea, and one belief that we are working to strengthen the Serbian positions in Washington, the ambassador said.

He reminded that a lot had changed 30 or more years ago when Serbian emigrants had been the ones who had been pulling the sleeves of our representatives of government and state bodies.

He added that in the 90s, that connection had been broken.

"Now we will knock on their door again and we knock every day and ask them to re-engage and become one again in the political sense when it comes to representing Serbian interests," Djuric told Tanjug during the visit of Minister Ivica Dacic to Washington.

The ambassador said that he thanked all of them for their efforts and for not giving up on their homeland.

"I expected and hoped and would advocate for the gathering on the 18th to be a positive image of the new Serbian initiative - a collective, joint, united initiative regardless of ideological regional and all other differences we had, because we were a very diverse people," the ambassador said.

Djuric emphasized that a lot could be done and achieved together and that was why he wanted February 18 to be a holiday for the Serbian gathering in Washington.

It is my hope and belief, and I will do everything to make it a traditional manifestation, Djuric said and added that the embassy had the support of all three dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the US for the organization of the gathering.

The meeting "Strengthening ties" - the Serbian diaspora in the US will begin tomorrow at Jack Morton Hall, with a free screening of the films "Strahinja Banovic" and "Ice Cream", which were also shown at numerous prestigious world festivals such as those in Paris, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, Pinjore, Cairo, Seville, Montpellier, Thessaloniki, Haifa, Trieste, Palm Springs, Albuquerque...