Press releases

MINSK, 11 November (BelTA) – Serbia is open to cooperation with Belarus in all fields, including museum projects, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Serbia to Belarus Veljko Kovacevic said as he met with Director of the National History Museum of Belarus Oleg Ryzhkov on 11 November, BelTA learned from the Serbian Embassy in Belarus.

The meeting was timed to coincide with the World War One Armistice Day celebrated on 11 November. The parties discussed prospects of cooperation between Belarusian and Serbian museums and implementation of joint projects.

Veljko Kovacevic briefed Oleg Ryzhkov on the key events of the Serbian struggle during World War One. “Serbia suffered enormous losses. More than 1.2 million Serbians died in that war. That was some 28% of the population,” the Ambassador stressed.

Veljko Kovacevic gifted a book by Mira Radojevic and Ljubodrag Dimic entitled “Serbia in the Great War 1914-1918” and a commemorative badge to Oleg Ryzhkov. The Ambassador pointed out that Belarus and Serbia have built strong friendly relations.

During the meeting, Oleg Ryzhkov shared plans for large-scale exhibitions devoted to World War One. In his words, such exhibitions attract many visitors abroad. They give people in the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, and other countries an opportunity to see some 250 items dating back to the war. One of such exhibitions is currently running in Serbia.

He also spoke of the plans to develop cooperation with the German Historical Museum in Berlin. For example, a large-scale project will be carried out in 2018 to mark the anniversary of the end of World War One.