The unity of Serbs and Slovenes in Bela Krajina is an example for the entire Balkans

25. May 2021.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Selaković, began his visit to Slovenia with meetings in Bela Krajina, visiting the villages of Milići and Bojanci, which have been inhabited by descendants of Serb uskoks since the 16th century.

They informed the head of Serbian diplomacy about life in unity and the harmony they have with their neighbors, which gives an example to the entire Balkans and this part of Europe about the common life of people of different nationalities and different religions.

In a conversation with the locals, Selaković congratulated them on keeping the legend about their ancestors alive and introduced them to the initiative to create a Museum of Serbs from Bela Krajina in Milići.

Selaković said that he visited the location, where a plot of land was provided to the Business Association of Serbs in Slovenia, and said that the Ministry, through the Embassy in Ljubljana and the Directorate for Diaspora and Serbs in the region, would support this idea to the maximum.

The Minister also said that he learned that there are preserved registers of our first settlers, uskoks from 1551, with the name, surname and the number of family members, adding that these are incredible historical evidence that we want to collect in the Museum and that every Serb who comes to Slovenia should take the time to come to Milići and see how old the history of Serbs in this area is.

 "We agreed that in parallel with the construction of the Museum, scientific research work will take place, on the basis of which a publication on the history of our compatriots in this part of Slovenia will be formed", the Minister concluded.

Serbs in Bela Krajina live in four villages – Mirindol, Milići, Bojanci and Paunovići. The oldest written source about their presence in this area dates from 1530.

According to the 1931 census of the Drava Banovina, there were 6,745 Orthodox Serbs living in Bela Krajina, and it is now estimated that there are several hundred of them in all four villages. According to the latest estimates, there are about 30,000 Serbs in Slovenia.

There are no precise data, because at the last census from 2011 there was no possibility for the inhabitants of Slovenia to declare their national and religious affiliation. The Serbian community in this country is asking for this to be possible in this year's census.