CHILDREN FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA WELCOMED IN MAIN CEREMONY IN ZVORNIK

ZVORNIK, JUNE 14 /SRNA/ - Zvornik City has today hosted the main welcoming ceremony for more than 700 Serb children, teachers, and children and youth with developmental difficulties from Kosovo and Metohija, who will be hosted by their peers in 19 cities and municipalities across Republika Srpska, as part of the project "Connecting Children of Kosovo and Metohija and Republika Srpska."

After the main welcoming ceremony and the children's departure to other towns in Republika Srpska, 45 children and four teachers from the Kosovo towns of Pasjane and Parteš will remain in Zvornik, staying with their local peers. Zvornik Mayor Bojan Ivanović emphasized that the project "Connecting Children of Kosovo and Metohija and Republika Srpska" is more than just a journey – it is a bridge of friendship and unity that connects regions, families, history, and the future. "Zvornik welcomes you not just as guests, but as part of our family," Ivanović stated. Enea Hotić, representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska, wished the children a pleasant stay in Republika Srpska and noted that the Ministry has participated in this nationally significant project for the 13th time. Damjan Jović, State Secretary of Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed support for this, as he described, "the most beautiful gathering," noting that growing up in Kosovo and Metohija today is the hardest as there is no freedom there. He told the children from Serbia’s southern province that they are in the right place to learn an important lesson about freedom, about how much freedom means to the Serb people, and how it is fought for. At the Vardište border crossing near Višegrad, another 110 Serb children and teachers from Kosovo and Metohija entered Republika Srpska today, headed to Višegrad, Foča, and Trebinje, where they will stay with their peers. Due to the long journey, they did not attend the central welcoming event.