DODIK: THE SERBIAN NATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS LEFT A SIGNIFICANT MARK IN CULTURE AND SCIENCE

BUDAPEST, September 4 /SRNA/ - President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik said that the Serbian national community in Hungary has left a significant mark in culture, science, and all that constitutes the essence of a community.

Dodik told reporters in Budapest that he was pleased to once again, for the third consecutive year, serve as patron of the manifestation "Serbian Days - Month of Serbian Culture in Hungary", which celebrates the presence of the Serbian national community that arrived in these areas at the end of the 17th century. He stressed that the Serbian people in Hungary endured through different times and threats to their survival, but with the arrival of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his team, as well as the new Hungarian policies, the Serbian national community has been affirmed and supported. "I am grateful to the Hungarian state for everything it does to affirm the identity of our people here. This was the initial spark for excellent relations between Hungary, Serbia, and Republika Srpska, and today I can say that these relations are at the highest possible level thanks to Orbán and the policies he pursues," Dodik said ahead of the event. The President of Srpska added that he was glad to once again meet His Eminence Lukijan, Metropolitan of Buda, in Budapest, and to spend time with him as a witness that the Serbian national community here has its roots, its present, and its future. The manifestation is held with the aim of presenting, preserving, and developing Serbian culture in Hungary, enriching the cultural scene as a whole, and will last until September 24. The main organizer of the manifestation is the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Buda, while the patrons are the Office of the President of Republika Srpska and the Ministry of Culture of Serbia.