Vucic and Soros talk about position of Roma in Serbia

President Aleksandar Vucic met on Friday in Belgrade with Alexander Soros, deputy chairman of the Open Society Foundations, Vucic's office announced.

According this, they discussed "Serbia's progress in European integration, improving entrepreneurship, and the position of Roma in Serbia."

Soros "expressed readiness for greater support to reforms, strengthening the capacities of state institutions and strengthening democratic processes in Serbia," the statement said, and added that the Open Society Foundations is "ready to help as much as it can in improving the position of Roma in Serbia, which would greatly contribute to their greater participation in public life."

Another topic was the improvement and use of the potential of the Roma community in the development of entrepreneurship, in which the assistance will be provided both by the local communities in which they live as well as the whole of Serbia. "Serbia has the opportunity to use European and national resources to improve the position of the most vulnerable citizens of Serbia, including Roma," Soros is quoted as saying.

Vucic and Soros "also discussed the positive aspect of the life and creativity of Roma in Serbia, such as culture and art," the statement said.

The Open Society Foundations recently launched by the European Roma Institute for Art and Culture in Berlin, and Serbia is considering the possibility of opening a branch of the Institute in Belgrade.

Vucic "thanked the Foundations for its commitment to have the seat of the initiative of the Regional Cooperation Council Integration of Roma 2020 be in Belgrade and under the auspices of the Serbian government, and expressed the expectation that cooperation with this regional initiative will be even more fruitful."

The meeting was attended by the member of the Board of the Roma Program Sonja Liht, Director of the Roma Initiative...

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