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issue 5, year XIV, 2007 |
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H. E. Mr. DANILO VUCETIC,
Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Bulgaria, before "Europe 2001" Magazine
OUR RELATIONS ARE IN THE BEST STAGE OF ALL THEIR HISTORY
Interview by Valentin Kostov
page 4
THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 8
Serbia is a beautiful small country, as far as territory is concerned. But with its history, its cultural heritage and traditions, its spiritual and material achievements throughout its long existence it can rightly rank among the countries which are justified in being proud with their past and in looking optimistically ahead, into the future. Having past through periods of hard ordeals during the centuries, and being for a couple of times on the brink of survival, Serbia and the Serbian people are presently on the way to a genuine democratic society, in which all citizens, regardless of their nationality or religion, have equal rights, safeguarded by the Constitution and the laws, and in conformity with the highest European standards.
REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA AND REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
Reference from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s
"Europe I" Directorate
page 14
The Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Serbia established diplomatic relations in 1879. The bilateral relations between the two republics are characterized with intensive political dialogue, expanding economic cooperation, active cultural and educational exchange. The two countries share common external political priorities and goals.
BULGARIA CAN HELP SERBIA IN ITS EFFORTS TO JOIN EU
Ljubisa Mitic - Director of the Economic
Chamber’s Representation
page 17
A. DRAKE: AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Gergina Dvorezka
page 19
The journalist Alan Drake is acting Head of the Council of Europe’ Press Office in Strasbourg. He sees his mission in making CoE recognizable - that political organization, established in 1949, which protects human rights and democracy, but at the same time seeks solutions to social, cultural and legal problems. Drake is inspired by the idea for a Greater Europe, which would also encompass Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Georgia, etc.
INTIMACY THAT NEVER WEARS OUT
Dragan Vukic
page 20
In all their history Bulgarians and Serbs, who have cohabited for ages in one and the same region, have been in countless contacts for their interactions in the field of history, spiritual life, social development, etc. The past of the two peoples is full of an incessant stream of bonds. It was in Veliko Turnovo, capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, in the court of his friend the Bulgarian tzar Ivan Assen 2nd, that Saint Sava, the greatest Serbian saint and the first medieval man of letters, passed away. He was buried with honours at St. Forty Martyrs Church, and his remains were later transferred to Serbia.
Serbian rulers often became related by marriage to the Bulgarian royal court.
In the field of spiritual life, there are also a number of facts about the intimacy between the two peoples. In 1460 the remains of one of the great Serbian rulers - king Milutin, were transferred to St. Nedelya Church in Sofia and are honoured by the Bulgarians as a sacred relic to this day. This was the reason why the people used to call the church "Sveti Kral" ("Saint King"). Vuk Karadzic, the reformer of the Serbian literary language, was the founder of the first Bulgarian Grammar, contributing to the inclusion of the Bulgarian language in "a Comparative Dictionary of All Languages". It was in Serbia that Georgi S. Rakovsky and Lyuben Karavelov carried out wide activities. Vassil Levski was taught warfare in the Bulgarian Legion, founded in Belgrade. Bulgarians and Serbs are close in faith, language, manners and destiny.
SERBIA ON THE ROAD TO EUROPE
page 22
It is beyond doubt that the Republic of Serbia has chosen to join the European family of nations and is doing everything necessary to make this a reality. It is another question, however, when what is wished will actually happen, for this does not depend on Serbia’s efforts alone, but on the political processes within the EU itself, as well as on the situation on the Balkans, where some open problems have not yet found their solution. What is almost sure is that Serbia will soon endorse the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which will then have to be signed, so that the procedure for Serbia’s inclusion in the Schengen White List could be over next year.
IF YOU COME HERE ONCE, YOU WILL BE RETURNING AGAIN AND AGAIN
Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 24
For years now a real sea of foreign tourists swarms Belgrade on the eve of the Christmas Holidays. It is there that they see the New Year in.
During the summer a great number of tourists visit the small town of Guca, in Central Serbia. Every year a Brass Music Fair is organized there, which is a real festival of merriment.
To say nothing of Novi Sad and the incredible rock festival EXIT, which is staged in the impressive Petrovaradin fortress.
By the number of visitors Guca and EXIT are definitely unrivalled among the similar events in Serbia, while the lovers of serious music would surely go to Negotin to attend the musical festival "Mokranjatz Days". As for the theatre- goers, they will not skip a trip to Belgrade to attend the famous BITEF (Belgrade International Theatre Festival). Serbia offers much more than all this: splendid scenery, mountains, rivers, mineral springs, winter tourism, culinary temptations and hospitality.
SERBIAN MEDIEVAL ART
Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 27
The medieval monasteries in Serbia, that have emerged on the crossroad between Eastern and Western culture, reveal an original symbiosis of Byzantine and Roman art. A proof of this are the murals with exceptional aesthetic value that have reached the height of modern Byzantine and European art.
Owing to Saint Sava Serbian church became autocephalous in 1219, and the Zica monastery, built by Stefan Purvovenchani, became a centre of an archdiocese; it was there that he was crowned as the first Serbian king.
TRACES OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
Svetlana Ievtovic
page 30
During the pre-historic epoch Serbia has twice been a cradle of the first germs of European culture. The archeological finds in the vicinity of the Iron Gates gorge (Djerdap), as well as near today’s town of Donji Milanovac bear record that one of the most significant pre-historic communities, comprised of hunters and fishermen, called Lepenski Vir culture, has developed and flourished there, leaving behind unique architectural, archeological and cultural monuments. The excavations, carried out in the period between 1960 and 1970, showed seven settlements and graves, as well as tools made of stone, bone or horn, decorations and monumental stone sculptures.
For six centuries Serbia’s territory has been part of the Roman Empire. It achieved cultural bloom in the period from the 3rd c. onwards and reached a height of the late-classical culture: fora, richly decorated palaces, hippodromes, baths, splendid villas, theatres, magnificent mosaics, frescos, sculptures - all these are a proof that first-class masters had worked there.
BELGRADE: A CROSSROAD OF THE AGES
Vlada Petrovic
page 33
Belgrade was proclaimed the most perspective capital of the European Orient.
Owing to the song "Molitva" ("Prayer"), which the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest Marija Serifovic sung last May in Finland, Belgrade will host this prestigious festival, and in 2009 will welcome the participants in the next Universiade.
Belgrade is one of the most ancient towns of Europe. The archeological finds in this area take us way back to pre-historic times. The Roman town of Singidunum emerged in the 1st c. AD. In 441 the settlement was razed to the ground by the Huns. It was only during Justinian’s rule that it was restored in 535 and was girdled by massive fortified walls. During the VIth c. Slavs’ incursions beyond the Danube multiplied, and in the VIIth c. they permanently settled in Singidunum. That is how a new town took shape, which they called the White Town (Beograd). In 1521 the town fell under Turkish domination. Belgrade’s urbanization and its transformation from a Turkish "kasaba" (small town) into a modern European city began in the first decades of the 19th c. In the period 1837-1840 the Saborna Crkva (the Cathedral) was built on the place of an old church, dating back to 1728. It is painted in conformity with the requirements of classicism, with the introduction of baroque elements. The Temple of Saint Sava is the biggest active Orthodox church in the world and one of the ten greatest ones altogether.
FROM THE GLAGOLHIC SCRIPT TO VUK KARADJIC
Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 38
Culture in the early medieval times was totally dependent on the church and was characterized not only with the first Slavonic script - the Glagholic alphabet, but also with a dead literary language, common to all southern Slavs - the old Slavonic.
The year 1850 was of great importance for the language reforms in Serbia, for it was then that the so called Vienna Agreement was adopted, proclaiming that Serbs and Croats spoke one and the same language, that their writing was phonetic, that the South Herzegovo dialect was accepted as the literary one and last, but not least, that Vuk Karadzic was the man who would create the rules for that language. He devoted all his life to that goal: he yearned for turning the vernacular speech into a literary norm and for the creation of the pure Serbian language, as well as for writing the first Serbian Grammar and Dictionary.
MODERN SERBIAN ART
Svetlana Ievtovic
page 40
A basic form of Serbian art in the 18th c. was the religious icon-painting. The first historical compositions, portraits, still life and landscapes also appeared in that period. Graphic art played a leading role for the spread of the new baroque ideas. Illustrated Bibles and emblematic collections served as models for painters in decorating the churches. The significance of Serbian baroque painting within the frames of Mid-European art lies just in the emphasis on identity and in the pursuit of consolidation of the religious and national originality amidst the diversity of religions and ethnic groups in the multinational Habsburg monarchy, under whose rule a great part of the Serbian people fell.
The state independence of Serbia was finally recognized at the Berlin Congress in 1878, while in 1882 the country was proclaimed a kingdom. After the liberation the mixture of old and new, traditional and modern, created a great variety in the arts.
During the 19th c. the country sent a lot of young creators abroad to receive their training there - first in Vienna, then in Munich and Paris. Today, the cultural and artistic life in Serbia is extremely rich and intensive.
THE FIRST CINEMA ON THE BALKANS
Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 46
Out of all the Balkan countries Serbia was the first to get acquainted with cinema. The first film-show was on 6 June 1896 in Belgrade, at "By The Golden Cross" cafe, on "Terasije" square. That happened less than 6 months after the first public presentation of the "moving photographs" in Paris (28 December 1895). In March 1897 the first film episodes on Serbian land were shot, namely A Stroll in Kalemegdan, A Tram Station on Terasije square and Women-Workers Leaving the Tobacco Factory. Unfortunately, these films were not kept. However, a great number of films, shot in the following years throughout the world, have been preserved, so that Serbia owns one of the richest collections of works of the Seventh art as a whole (The Yugoslav Filmotheque). The Belgrade enterprise "Avala Film" shot in 1947 the first feature film of modern Yugoslav cinematograpy, and that was "Slavica" by the film director Vjekoslav Afric.
THE "KRSNA SLAVA" HOLIDAY
Gancho Savov
page 49
SPORTS: SERBIA’S FACE TO THE WORLD
Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
page 51
Sports in Serbia are a phenomenon most sociologists and other observers are unable to explain. Serbia is a small country, the number of registered sportsmen in the separate sports alone in some countries is bigger than the population of Serbia as a whole. Nevertheless, Serbia wins medals at the highest world sport competitions in basketball, water-polo, volleyball (male, and female), rowing, handball, shooting, martial arts, tennis. Judging by sports, Serbia is walking the right way.
FAMOUS PERSONALITIES FROM SERBIA
Gancho Savov
page 53
PHOTOGRAPHY: HISTORY AND ART
page 57
LITART PRESENTS:
STEVAN RAICKOVIC
page 61
SARGEAN VALJAREVIC
page 63
TANJA KRAGUJEVIC
page 64
ATELIER PRESENTS:
VOLODIA KAZAKOV
Romance, Passion and Lyricism
Dochka Kissiova-Gogova
page 66
KAMEN KISSIMOV
The Anxiety of the Transition Period
Dochka Kissiova-Gogova
page 68
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| Tranlsated by Galia B. Cholakova |
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