PANEL DISCUSSION 2022

Mina ZIROJEVIĆ:
SERBIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN
A PART OF THE HEART OF EUROPE

Esteemed Archbishop, ambassadors, members of the media, dear friends and most of all dear organizers.

Thank you for allowing me to speak at such a magnificent gathering. As my esteemed colleagues before me have already explained, thank you for developing this idea of a Europe that goes back to its roots. We will hear many times that this is an idea primarily of Central Europe. Serbia, according to its cultural and historical heritage, as in modern times, Serbia has always been a part of the heart of Europe.

Charles University, Kafka, Kundera, Tesla, Masaryk, Mozart, Forman, Curie, Copernicus, Shafarik, Chopin, Dubcek, Strauss, Dvorzak, Smetana, Capek, Schrödinger, Freud, Klimt, Liszt, Rubik, Novak Djoković, Milunka Savić, Kusturica, Pupin, Milanković.

That is at least a partial picture of Europe. The continent with the most painters, philosophers, but also Nobel laureates, physicists, chemists. People who have risen above the ordinary and made an immeasurable contribution to their people, Europe and the world in their field of interest. It was the creative energy of a perfect blend of the advanced and the traditional. Never retrograde and backward as we are taught of the history of Europe nowadays.

When Europe was united, we all felt that spirit of unity, warmth, cooperation, we all felt that this was the path we should take. That Europe has finally found a path that will overcome divisions and arise on the basis of unity, the same values, the same culture ...

Today, however, it is a Europe of division, selfishness, migrants, some other, import values. More than ever, the picture of abducted Europe describes the struggle that is taking place on European soil. European reality.

If we read the history of the collapse of great civilizations, extinct empires and traditions, we immediately see the similarity with the barely living cities of Europe without a compass, without Santa Claus, Christmas, Easter. .. Everything becomes "something medium," vague and unknown. .. As in the past, socio-political crises and conflicts are realities of our time. The daily news is almost the same as in the years when history was broken. World powers are playing with the lives and an honour of citizens. The rich classes enjoy only the money and the mud of vulgar pleasures. Money has become the only measure. Dishonourable standard for Faith, Love and Hope. The lowest and middle classes are threatened with starvation.

The only phrase that stands out is Carpe Diem. It is as if predicting the approach of catastrophe, ruin and the collapse of the epoch. The forcibly imposed idea that salvation cannot be found anywhere else, that everything is over, does not give us the adrenaline to "escape and be saved" but that there is no salvation and to enjoy while we can. What will Faith, Love and Hope do for us when we count the last days before the War, before the Famine, before the diseases ... All the Riders of the Apocalypse are here. We glorify the Body, not the Spirit. Crisis of values always indicates the death of a society, if not today, then in the near future.

And some new people, the new Faith, are coming from all sides. To replace what made the Lady out of Europe. The old one, but if it wasn't valuable, they wouldn't have demolished it. But God brings always good and blessing. Finally, the much-needed internal rebellion is happening, the Fire that will save the World. Decency, empathy, values, Christian values ...

The intellectual elite was not always on the side of Salvation. Even today we are faced with a fake elite that believes only in Money. Money and Power. But here People gathered around a common idea can ignite the Spark that can preserve the traditional values of healthy nationalism, protection of language, culture, and all with the absolute protection of all minorities. Our common interest must be greater than our differences, but we must also respect those differences.

But if there's a spark here, let's make a fire together. With old faith and new enthusiasm.

Although Serbia is a Balkan country, its spirit is not chained by the boundaries of the peninsula. Searching outside of our borders for trustful partners the conclusion is obvious: our natural allies - from both political and spiritual perspective - are nations of Central Europe. We have long established historical ties but what is even more important, we have common interests tu pursue if we want to secure our fruitful development in the future European political architecture.