From the 20th to 22nd July 2022 in organisation of the Archives of Vojvodine, the advisor to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Iveta Galbava and the director of the Scientific Research Centre of the Nation’s Memory Institute in Bratislava, dr. Peter Jašek, were on a working visit in the Republic of Serbia.
During the three days visit, several working meetings were held in Novi Sad, Belgrade and Bački Petrovac.
On the first day of their visit to the Republic of Serbia, on the 20th of July 2022, a working meeting took place in the Archives of Vojvodina, on which the director of the Archives of Vojvodina dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović and the assistant director Kristijan Obšust presented to the delegation from Slovakia a main activitiy and projects of the Archives of Vojvodina. A special emphassys was on a presentation of the archival records that are kept in the Archives and which are related to the culture and history of the Slovakian national minority that lives in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the presentation of the projects which were realized by the Archives of Vojvodina and that are also dedicated to the cultural history of Slovaks in Serbia. In a context of the presentation of the archival records from the fond F. 183 of the Archives of Vojvodina, i.e. the part of the records which is related to suffering of Slovaks during the Second World War in the territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, to the delegation from the Slovak Republic was shown the work of writing a theme publication related to this subject, which will be published next year as a part of the publishing activity of the Archives of Vojvodina and the Center for Serbo-Slovakian Topics from Novi Sad. At the same time, the agreement of holding the promotion of the publication in the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava was reached, along with organizing the theme exhibition of the archival documents from the fond F. 183, which will be dedicated to the suffering both Serbs and Slovaks in the Second World War. The exhibition will be organized in the second part of 2023 in Bratislava, under the patronage of the Government and the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. A strategic co-operation between Nation’s Memory Institute (Bratislava) and Archives of Vojvodina was also agreed on this meeting.
On the same day, the working meeting with the Bishop of the Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia, Jaroslav Javornik and his associates, was held in Episcopal Edifice in Novi Sad, as well as the meeting with the president of Matica Slovačka in the Republic of Serbia, Branislav Kulik and his associates in Bački Petrovac. During the tour of the Episcopla Edifice, the Slovak delegation and Archival representatives also visited the Slovak Evangelical Church in Novi Sad, and while staying in Bački Petrovac, they visited a family owned “Ethno room of Mihail Spevak”.
The second day of their visit, on the 21st of July 2022, the delegation from Slovak Republic visited the Genocide Victims’ Museum in Belgrade. The working meeting, beside the advisor from Slovak Republic Government Iveta Galbava, director of Scientific Research Centre of the Nation’s Memory Institute in Bratislava Dr. Peter Jašek, director of the Genocide Victims’ Museum Dejan Ristić and his associates, also attended director of the Archives of Vojvodina dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović and associate director Kristijan Obšust. During the meeting and according to the protocol of co-operation between the Genocide Victims’ Museum and the Archives of Vojvodina, joint cooperation with the the Nation’s Memory Institute from Bratislava was considered. Along with this, director of the Genocide Victims’ Museum Dejan Ristić presented the activities of this Institution in the context of research and fostering a culture of memory with special emphassys on the genocide comitted against Serbs on the territory of the quisling Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War. In a constructive conversation, it was preliminary agreed for the next year to set up an interactive audio exhibition of the Genocide Victims’ Museum about the genocide in Jasenovac, named “Jasenovac. Death Camp. Land of Living” in the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava.
The same day, the working meeting between the adviser to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Iveta Galbava and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nemanja Starović was held in Novi Sad, where they considered the possibilities for further co-operation between two countries. At the same time the State Secretary Mr. Starović showed his gratitude for princpled support to the territorial integrity which Slovak Republic gives to the Republic of Serbia, while the advisor to the Prime Minister Ms. Galbava thanked for the help of the Republic of Serbia towards Slovak national community in this country.
On the third day of the visit, on the 23rd of July 2022, the advisor to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Iveta Galbava ceremonially opened an exhibition called “Fairytale Paths, GRAND PRIX Winners: Biennale of Illustrations in Bratislava BIB 1967–2021” in a gallery room of the Archives of Vojvodina. The exhibition was realized under the patronage of the ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Serbia, His Excellency Fedor Rosocha.
At the end of the visit to Republic of Serbia, an informal meeting was held in the Archives of Vojvodina, which was attended by the advisor to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Iveta Galbava, the deputy ambassador Monika Podsklanova Šuhajdova, director of Scientific Research Centre of the Nation’s Memory Institute in Bratislaval dr. Peter Jašek, director of the Archives of Vojvodina dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović and assistant director of the Archives of Vojvodina Kristijan Obšust. At the meeting the advisor of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic informed the deputy ambassador of the Slovak Republic about the conclusions from working meetings held during the three days visit in organization of the Archives of Vojvodina. Also, she announced that, within a Slovak National Ceremony in August, the director of the Archives of Vojvodina dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović will be awarded by a special Slovak Republic Prime Minister’s recognition Mr. Eduard Heger, for an exeptional contribution in strengthening the ties between two nations, i.e. for the promotion of the Slovak Republic in the Republic of Serbia and abroad.
