The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Museum of Serbian Diplomacy hosted a visit by the first group of children and youths from the Serbian diaspora, attendees of the "Saint Sava" Summer School of Serbian Language and Culture, the programme of which is this year also supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The school was founded in 1995 and has since been attended by approximately 2,000 students from Albania, Austria, Italy, Canada, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, etc.

The goal of the summer school is to, by holding workshops and organizing encounters with renowned personages from the world of Serbian culture, namely writers, sportspersons and actors as well as through classes of Serbian literature, language and Cyrillic script, support the preservation of Serbian linguistic, cultural and religious identity in the Serbian diaspora, and get them acquainted with Belgrade's and Serbia's landmarks, while they socialize with their peers from Serbian schools.

Ambassador Dr Ljiljana Niksic, Director of the Department for Migration Policy, Diaspora and Social Security Agreements, received a group of 30 children and youths, aged 8-22, and the teaching staff.

Wishing them a welcome, she underlined that the Serbs were "jewels" of their proud Motherland who, though "scattered" all over the world, had not been forgotten, playing the role of Serbia's invaluable bridges of friendship with the countries where they lived and worked. She underlined that the Motherland was grateful to them and their parents for not having forgotten the Serbian language, proudly preserving their heritage and visiting Serbia.

In cooperation with the teaching staff, Ambassador Dr Niksic held an interactive workshop "From Diaspora to the Serbian diplomacy", during which the youth had an opportunity to discuss their encounters with Serbian diplomats and make their suggestions.

At the end of the event, the guests wrote an individual message each as well as a joint message to the Minister which stated: "Keep Serbia for us, for it will always remain in our hearts, wherever we may be. Rest assured that we will everywhere and to everyone proudly present ourselves as Serbs".