The ceremonial academy held in Đurđevo on January 17 marked the National Holiday of the Ruthenians in the Republic of Serbia.
The holiday, established by the decision of the National Council in 2007, is celebrated on the day when, in 1751, the adviser of Empress Maria Theresa, Franz Josef de Redl, signed the Agreement on the settlement of 200 Ruthenian families in what was then Veliki Krstur.
“We gathered for the 17th time to mark our National Holiday and confirm once again that the Ruthenian community has strength and unity. The activities of the National Council, which we carry out with the support of the Provincial Government, confirm this,” said Joakim Rac, President of the National Council of the Ruthenian National Minority.
The President of the Provincial Government, Igor Mirović, congratulated the members of the Ruthenian national community on the National Holiday and pointed out that this holiday has been celebrated as a date of provincial importance since 2018, at the proposal of the Provincial Government.
“It was not easy for a numerically small national community to go through the stormy events and often great historical changes that that time brought and develop its tradition, culture, and identity. This is extremely important for the multi-ethnic image of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Republic of Serbia as a whole – because that image is our commonwealth and our way of life, which we must preserve together,” said Mirović.
The ceremony was also attended by Greek Catholic Bishop Georgije Džudžar, President of the Žabalj Municipal Assembly Radovan Čolić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Ninoslav Jovanović, and Ambassador of Ukraine Volodymyr Tolkač.
