SERBIA - National review, No 65 
                    
                      Prologue
                    
                     
                      We  did not hurry to create the last edition in 2017 because the New Year’s  lighting in the capital was lit already on November 1st. Not at all.  We hurried to arrive at the celebration of the anniversary of the Grand  National Assembly in Novi Sad 1918, when Banat, Bačka and Baranja (Srem had  done it the day before) made a decision on unconditional unification with the  Kingdom of Serbia. Next year it will be one century from this important event.  We were also in the gorge of the Moravica, in Predić’s Orlovat, celebrated 700  years of Tronoša, visited Belgrade’s public fountains... You are just a click  away from all that. <
                        
                        
                      
                    
                    
                    
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     CONTENTS  
                     
                    Prologue 
                      WHILE PACKING THE BAGS OF THE YEAR 2017
  Hilarious Tragedy 
                    Vitrage
                      NUMBERS, EVENTS, INTERESTING THINGS
                    Album 
                      EXHIBITION OF PAJA JOVANOVIĆ IN BELGRADE
  The Greatness before Us
                    In Memory
                      APPROACHING THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE  GREAT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN NOVI SAD
  Unification
                      Liberation of the areas across the Sava, Danube  and Drina and their unification with the Kingdom of Serbia on November 25, 1918  was one of the most important events in modern Serbian history. Serbs and other  Slavs from Srem, Banat, Bačka and Baranja decided about it in the freest and  most democratic way in then Europe. ”Martyrs of Kosovo! Happy liberation! (...)  If we ask our heart, it’ll say – you’ve done it my way. If we ask our mind –  it’ll say the same”, said Jaša Tomić, who deserves to be raised a golden  monument by Serbs today, at the Assembly. Celebrating that important date in  this era is our debt to ancestors and descendants, it means preserving  self-consciousness and sobering up of the state
                    Edited by: Đorđe M. Srbulović
                    Geopoetics
                      IN THE MORAVICA GORGE, ABOVE SOKOBANJA, FOLLOWING  TRACES OF OLD LEGENDS AND YOUNG HOPES
  Fascinations in the City of Falcons
                      The old fortified city exists at least since  Justinian (VI century). It defended passageways towards the Morava valley,  guarded the Nišava and Timok sides, the entrance hall of mount Rtanj. It hosted  caravans heading to Europe and Asia. Its ruler kept falcons and paid taxes to  the crown in trained birds. Today everyone there knows that cities are better  guarded by stories than cannons. This landscape and this fortress, under the  skies bursting above us as nowhere else, can have an exceptional place on the romantic  map of Serbia
                    Text and Photo: Svetlana Dingarac
                    Eye 
                      ORLOVAT IN BANAT, OBSERVING THE 160TH  ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF UROŠ PREDIĆ 
  Iconostasis of the Homeland Plain
                      There, on the gentle rise along the right bank of  the river Tamiš, the house the great painter was born in no longer exists, but  the old mulberry tree is still there. In the village church, work of Dragiša  Brašovan, iconostasis painted by Uroš Predić in 1926, St. Petka has the face of  the painter’s mother, and St. Sava and St. Nicholas faces of his father and  grandfather. Mother of God is in a Banat landscape, Vršac Mountains can be seen  in the distance, as well as the bell tower of the Orlovat church. Uroš Predić  rests on the village cemetery, ”next to his good mother”, and the new tombstone  resembles a palette
                    Text and Photo: Miodrag Grubački
                    Thirst
                      PUBLIC FOUNTAINS OF BELGRADE, PART  OF URBANE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF SERBIAN CAPITAL
  Living with Live Water
                      There are 141 public water taps and 38 fountains  in Belgrade today. Six public water taps are not connected to waterworks but  have their own springs: Miloševa, Hajdučka, Kraljeva, Vračarska, Miljakovačka  and Lovačka. There used to be many more of them, but the merciless and  unintelligent ”modernization” swallowed many things even then. In the tradition  and city legends, they all still exist and murmur continuously, like crowd  chatter in the disappeared Belgrade taverns
                    By: Miloš Lazić
                    Pilgrimages
                      SEVEN CENTURIES OF THE TRONOŠA MONASTERY IN JADAR CELEBRATED THIS  AUTUMN
  Carried by Three Waters
                      This is a chance to visit and remember it. As it has always done to  us. Prince Dragutin Nemanjić pledged to build it, and it was completed in 1317,  by his wife and sons. This is where the famous ”Tronoša Chronicle” was written  in the XVIII century, this is where Vuk Karadžić learnt to read and write, this  is where St. Stefan of Tronoša served to God and his people. A legend says that  the drinking fountain next to the monastery was built by Jug-Bogdan and nine  Jugović brothers, a year before the Battle of Kosovo. Based on the war plan  made in the Monastery, Loznica became the first liberated city in occupied  Europe on August 31, 1941
                    Text and Photo: Nebojša Trifunović
                    Plain
                      THE FAMOUS DUNĐERSKI FAMILY AND THEIR ECHOES IN  SRBOBRAN
  Fruits Greater than Us
                      Sprung in the great plain from their  Herzegovinian roots, they knew that a good harvest is impossible without good  sowing. They relied on God and themselves, never spared themselves in work and  good deeds. They did business prudently and courageously. They were one of the  greatest landowners, industrialists and food merchants in Austro-Hungary, and  one of the greatest benefactors in Serbian history, especially in culture.  Srbobran is their place of birth and resting place, a point where their circle  begins and ends. Thus Srbobran preserves the memory of the Dunđerski family  differently from anyone else
                    Text: Vladimir Janković and NR Press
                    Champions
                      NEMANJA MAJDOV, WORLD CHAMPION IN  JUDO, PRIDE OF SRPSKA AND SERBIA
  High Measure of Value
                      Real self-confidence originates from  faith. Faith in God, not oneself. The best side of combat sport is creating  strong personalities, capable for fighting in life. There is something  victorious in the Serbian spirit and character, an unusual readiness to  confront any temptation or tyrant. On a soil such as Srpska’s is, people grow  brave and determined, which are good characteristics for sportsmen. We have  many talented and self-conscious young people, waiting to be shown the right  path, both theirs and ours
                    By: Dejan Bulajić
                    Winners
  ”VIZURA” VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS AS OF THIS SEASON PLAYING IN  RUMA
  Home of the State Champions
  ”We are happy because all of us together have contributed  to the state champions feeling Ruma as their city, as the sports public and the  audience of Ruma have accepted them”, says the president of the Municipality of Ruma Slađan Mančić. From December, Ruma will also be the host to the matches in the  Champions League of Europe, and will host some of the biggest names of women’s  club volleyball. It is expected that this  will be an incentive for the development of other team sports in this part of  Srem
                    Text and photo: Mile Vajagić
                    Connections
                      EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF THE GREAT PROJECT OF ”TELEKOM SRBIJA”
  ”Tesla’s Time Machine” in Vienna and Berlin
  ”This authentic project is a tribute to the visionary who  left an indelible mark with his inventions”, said Predrag  Ćulibrk, General Manager of ”Telekom  Srbija”. The multimedia projection had an excellent reception of both experts and  general public. First participation of someone from Serbia at the Berlin  Festival of Light
                    Together 
                      SUZANA PAUNOVIĆ, PhD, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE FOR  HUMAN AND MINORITY RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA
  Obligations  are Mutual
                      The Action Plan for the realization of the rights  of national minorities has been adopted. The government is working on amending  two key laws in this area. A permanent institutional dialogue has been  established with the councils of national minorities, all of their constructive  suggestions have been accepted. There are also a number of legacy problems. One  of them is the inappropriate politicization of overstepping their legal  authorizations. The laws of this country must apply to everyone, members of  both the majority and minority communities
                    By: Slađana Novaković
                    Features
                      GREAT SERBIAN ACTOR DRAGAN NIKOLIĆ IMMORTALIZED  IN THE VRNJAČKA BANJA PARK
  Legends Do not Die
                      He was a friend and promoter  of ”Merkur”. The best one. ”Top star, and so ordinary and charming, intimate and  ours.” With his roles, style, face and dignity, he left us with high standards  and life lessons. From now on we will forever walk in the Spa resort park and  will be able to relax and chat with him as much as we please. The  newly-unveiled sculpture, the work of Dragoljub Dimitrijević, is an honor both to the  famous actor and to Vrnjačka Banja
                    Advisor
                      IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND NUTRITION FOR  LONG-TERM HEALTH
  Thinking in a Timely Manner
                      Exactly this, physical activity and nutrition,  are the leading risk factors in chronic non-communicable diseases of terrifying  proportions in developed countries (cardiovascular, diabetes, malignant  diseases...). Serbia is at the top of this negative list. And a lot depends on  us. Changing bad habits and behavior patterns, raising the level of education  and self-discipline, the strength of positive examples and good system  solutions, can bring great improvements, especially in the long run
                    Studies
                      BELGRADE BUSINESS SCHOOL CONTINUES GOOD QUALITY  INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
  In Step with the Best
                      In October, lectures at this higher education  institution were given by Prof. Gerhard Sabathil from Germany and Prof. Stephen  Meyer from USA. In November, a delegation of BBS participated at the First  Danube International Scientific Conference in the German city of Ulm, organized  by the local state university. This year, the first foreign students have been  enrolled in undergraduate and master studies, from the African continent