The Serbian Ambassador to Croatia, Jelena Milić, demonstratively left the traditional Serbian National Council’s Christmas reception held today in Zagreb. Milić explained to RTL that she did so due to the lack of reaction from SNV representatives to the statements in a letter from the first prize winner.
“The reaction of the SNV leader to that letter, which says that we are grateful and hope that young people in Serbia will teach us how to fly, was for me a direct association with the student blockades currently happening in Serbia. The way SNV reacted simply didn’t sit well with me,” Milić said, as reported by Jutarnji list.
“You have to understand that I recently, a few days ago, wrote on my Facebook that I support when young people stand in squares, don’t block institutions, and when they seek concrete justice for injustice. But beyond that – blockades, calling my country a tyranny, calling my president and the state leadership murderers and the like, I simply and absolutely do not support that,” the ambassador explained.
The Serbian National Council (SNV) organized a traditional festive reception on Monday to celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, with messages of peace, tolerance, and mutual respect.
The president of the SNV, Milorad Pupovac, congratulated everyone on the New Year, wishing for “a year of peace where there is no peace, and where there is still peace, that it not be disturbed but preserved.”
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The reception brought together guests from social and political life, including Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and ministers Gordan Grlić Radman, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, and Damir Habijan. On behalf of President Zoran Milanović, his advisor Melita Mulić was present.
Annual SNV awards were also presented at the Christmas reception.
The Svetozar Pribičević Award for the promotion of Croatian-Serbian relations was awarded to Jasminka Petrović, a Serbian writer for children and young people, and Radivoj Raša Andrić, a director and screenwriter, connected by the book and film “The Summer When She Learned to Fly” about the “consequences of the war on the lives of once large and vital Croatian-Serbian families.”
The Dr. Gojko Nikoliš Anti-Fascist Award was given to Oleg Mandić, also known as the last boy from Auschwitz. The Diana Budisavljević Award for Justice and Humanity was received by Živojin Bođirković, owner of a meat production plant in eastern Slavonia, who supports the work of Orthodox theology at the Krka Monastery with his products. The Nikola Tesla Award for the advancement of Serbian institutions was awarded to Branka Džambas, secretary of the Serbian Cultural Society Prosvjeta.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Medija centar beograd