Pellegrini: Historic visit, Vucic doing much for Serbia's Slovaks

BACKI PETROVAC - Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said on Monday his two-day official visit to Serbia was historic and noted that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was doing much to ensure good life to ethnic Slovaks in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina and that building a Slovak House in Novi Sad would be a longtime dream come true for them.

At a press conference with Vucic after a meeting with representatives of the Slovak national minority in Backi Petrovac, Pellegrini said Vucic's announcement that Serbia would build a Slovak House in Novi Sad was a historic moment, and thanked Vucic and the Serbian government for pledging to invest six to seven million euros in the project.

"That is an enormous thing that will have great importance in the future and contribute to greater quality of life for people who live here," Pellegrini said, adding that ethnic Slovaks were contributing to Serbia's development but that, thanks to support provided to them, they were also ready to cherish their tradition and culture.

He noted that Serbs and Slovaks had been living in the territory of the province in peace and unity for 380 years as brotherly nations and that the meeting in Backi Petrovac had again confirmed that Serbia and Slovakia were brotherly countries, and added that his visit was the first official trip to Serbia by a Slovak president in 16 years.

He said that, at the meeting, he had heard many positive things Vucic, the Serbian government and Vojvodina were doing to ensure good life to Slovaks and that he had been informed of a large number of projects and investments that had already been implemented thanks to Serbia.

"I am very glad that Slovaks who live here declare themselves as residents of Serbia and that they have access to all services and possibilities like all other Serbian citizens, regardless of their ethnicity," Pellegrini said.