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11 Feb 2023, 01:52

Serbia should not give up on Russian culture, says Vucic

The President of Serbia also noted that it is necessary to "take care of the soul of the people"

BELGRADE, February 11. /TASS/. Serbia should not give up its Russian cultural heritage in theater, music and literature, the country’s President Aleksandar Vucic said during a Prva TV broadcast.

"We should know that we have most of our investments coming from the West, that we are on the European path and it is very stupid when some people say that we should stop this because they do not understand what life is like," the Serbian leader stressed, "Just like those who say: cut all ties with Russia, let's remove Chekhov and Dostoevsky from the theaters, let's not teach Pushkin at school, so there will be no Tchaikovsky at the opera. People, this cannot be Serbia, because we have to take care of the soul of our people, <...> we have to take into account what our financial interests, our economic interests are."

Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy said at a January 17 press conference at the Russian Embassy in Belgrade that Russia and Serbia were discussing making 2024 a cross-cultural year.

According to the presidential envoy, the Russian pianist Denis Matsuev and conductor Valery Gergiev will visit Serbia this year with concerts. In addition, it is expected that a forum of Russian and Serbian university presidents will be held, representatives of Serbian cultural figures will take part in Russian festivals and forums, and there will be cooperation in the sphere of film production.

Separately, Shvydkoy singled out the upcoming Hermitage Days festival in Serbia and expressed the hope that it would be possible to open a branch of the St. Petersburg museum in the country. According to him, such negotiations are currently taking place between Russia and Serbia.

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