President Aleksandar Vucic said today that the east of Serbia and the Pomoravlje are “pearls” of our country, and stressed that without the help of the European Union, Serbia would not be able to invest in tourism development and preservation of cultural heritage in the eastern part of Serbia.
Vucic said that in Serbia there is often a reason to criticize the EU, but that in this case the EU goes with a huge appreciation for everything they have done.
“It will look different to the east of Serbia when all these projects are implemented”, said Vucic, addressing the launch of the project “EU for Cultural Heritage and Tourism”, under which the EU and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development invested 16.5 Euros for projects in eastern Serbia.
With the implementation of these projects, he pointed out, other branches will develop, not just tourism.
“That 16.5m euros for various projects is huge money … It will not change everything, but it is difficult that, despite all the successes we have in economic policy, we can allocate money for these projects”, said Vucic at the presentation of the project within the Belgrade Tourism Fair.
He estimated that the EU was investing smartly in strategic development and tourism potential, but also in depth and diversity, so that Serbia could attract different categories of people to come to the east of our country.
“East Serbia and the Danube are pearls of Serbia, which we have not used to this day”, Vucic said.
He recalled that with the help of the EU, the Golubac Fort was rebuilt and stressed that when the projects were completed, Kladovo, Negotin, Zajecar and other parts of eastern Serbia would look completely different.
“What the EU is doing is revealing to us the beauty of our country, that we can see how beautiful Serbia is to us and what we can do for our country”, Vucic said, noting that many Serbian citizens have never been to the east of the country.
He said that thanks to these investments, catering in eastern Serbia would flourish, and that citizens of that part of the country would see that they had a chance to stay in their country and not go out to earn bread there.
“I ask people to hear well what all we want to do with this money. We have more to do later, to attract people from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Nis, but also from all over the world”, said Vucic.
He noted that the Germans, Austrians and Dutch have an incredible love for the Danube, and that more and more will come to us, they will leave money here, and it is up to us to show them what we have.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to offer them something better and more. We will do our best to add more money to this money, in order to repair the communication infrastructure in eastern Serbia, the fast road to that part of the country”, said Vucic.
The President reiterated that he is eternally grateful to the EU for its assistance, and noted that many will not pay much attention to this topic tomorrow in the media, because it will be something more attractive, but that this is a big deal for the east of Serbia.
“This is big money for us, for the east of Serbia, who will look different after these projects. We will also add that it is a public call for people from that part of Serbia who have gone to the world to return, to allow themselves and their people to stay at their hearths, but also to bring guests from abroad”, said Vucic .
He reiterated that without the EU, no matter how unpopular it may sound, we would not be able to do something like this, and expressed hope that the European partners would continue to invest in the east, as well as in other parts of Serbia, because they are beautiful and western Serbia, even Podrinje, south of the country…
The President thanked Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic for her engagement, stating that her work and contact with EU institutions and officials are often underestimated, Politika reports.
