BUDIMIR: SERBS ARE STILL FOCUSED ON LIBERATION AND UNIFICATION

NEVESINJE, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education, Željko Budimir, stated today at the opening of the International Scientific Conference marking a century and a half since the Nevesinje Uprising that this event is important not only for shedding light on history, but also for understanding current relations in the Balkans, as Serbs are still focused on the same issue – Serbian liberation and unification.

Budimir emphasized that the significance of this gathering is further enhanced by the fact that it is a multidisciplinary conference bringing together prominent historians, geopolitical analysts, and university professors from Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Republika Srpska, who will highlight the importance of the Nevesinje Uprising for both historical and contemporary international relations from various perspectives.

"We will shed light on what happened during that time. We find ourselves facing the same problem, that is, the same historical issue - Serbian liberation and Serbian unification," Budimir said in Nevesinje at the beginning of the two-day gathering titled "150 Years Since the Herzegovina Uprising: Impact on Regional Security and European Geopolitics."

Budimir reminds that the official commemoration of 150 years since the Great Eastern Crisis and the Herzegovina Uprising, which began and culminated in 1875, is starting in Nevesinje.

“This gathering should shed light on historical questions, but also current political issues that are very important for the Serbian question in the Balkans. I hope that today, through our work, we will demonstrate that we are capable, with our scientific capacity, to shed light on history, understand the present, and try to predict what the future holds in events within the territory of BiH and the entire Balkans,” Budimir stated.

The conference is organized by the Institute of Historical Sciences of the University of East Sarajevo and the Institute for International Politics and Economics from Belgrade, with support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technological Development of Serbia and the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska.

The gathering will continue tomorrow in Trebinje, and Budimir will be among the participants.

Within three panels, historians, political scientists, academics, and prominent experts from Republika Srpska, Serbia, Russia, and France will speak about the socio-political circumstances that preceded the Herzegovina Uprising, as well as its national and historical significance.

The continuation of the conference is scheduled for 09:30 at the "Leotar" Hotel, the relevant ministry said.

Statements to the press are scheduled for 09:15.