Ukrainians and Ruthenians of Serbia had the opportunity to meet with the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, in Belgrade, as reported by Miroslav Hočak, UWC Vice President for South Eastern Europe. Olena Zelenska thanked the community representatives for “dignified representation of the homeland and tireless advocacy for it.”
“During the visit to Belgrade, I was glad to meet with both old and new representatives of the Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Ruthenian communities. They serve as a lively and effective bridge connecting our countries through humanitarian aid, support actions for Ukraine, and simply active civic engagement,” Zelenska wrote on social media.
The meeting discussed the importance of strengthening the diplomatic front, according to Miroslav Hočak. “We also discussed the importance of improving diplomatic relations between Serbia and Ukraine, as well as the financial and material support that Serbia provides to the Ukrainian minority for its activities and development,” said Hočak.
Currently, there are approximately 12,000 Ukrainians and the same number of Ruthenians in Serbia, most of whom do not consider themselves part of the Ukrainian national corpus, says the UWC Vice President.
“We also discussed Russia’s significant influence in Serbia, the spread of Russian narratives, and the struggle against Russian propaganda in Serbia and the countries of the region. During the conversation, we also mentioned the UWC Summit in Bucharest, the meeting of the UWC leadership in Chernivtsi with Zelenskyy, and the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the ECU,” Hočak recounted.
Olena Zelenska is in Belgrade per the invitation of the First Lady of Serbia, Tamara Vučić, to participate in a conference on mental health.
Photos: Olena Zelenska
