Petition launched to include Greek TV channels in offer of cable operators in Serbia
It's time to get Greek channels as part of the offering of cable operators in Serbia
In order to bring the Greek and Serbian people even closer, a petition has been launched to offer Greek television channels in Serbia.
We are carrying a statement by President of the Association of Greeks of Serbia Vasilios Proveleggios in its entirety, and you can sign the petition HERE.
"After our project of free Greek language schools took root in Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Smederevo, and gathered about 500 Serbian citizens, who showed great enthusiasm to learn the Greek language, we received information that they would be delighted to have the opportunity to be in live contact with the Greek language, and the best way to do that is by watching television channels.
We are also informed that there are other foreign language schools in Serbia which specialize in Greek language courses and gather a large number of students interested in learning this language, to whom it would mean a lot to be able to complete their knowledge thanks to television programs.
According to data available to the Association of Greeks of Serbia - Έλληνες της Σερβίας - about 15,000 Greek descendants live in Serbia who are now Serbian citizens, of which about 2,000 are registered in a special voter list. And that is only one target group, which has an interest in following Greek TV channels.
The second target group are all those Serbian citizens who have the desire to learn the Greek language or already speak it, to get acquainted with the culture of that country, and to follow current events on TV.
The third target group are all Greek citizens living or working in Serbia, as well as the diplomatic communities of Greece and Cyprus, which are very numerous.
Since the ties between the Greek and the Serbian people are centuries old, and continue to develop and strengthen on different levels, which is one of the goals of the Association of Greeks of Serbia - Έλληνες της Σερβίας - we believe that the launch of this petition will affect better relations between our two peoples.
According to information from last year, about 1.5 million people from Serbia spend their summer vacations in Greece. Many of them wish to follow the events in that country even when they are not there, and for that reason it is quite understandable why we are asking cable operators to include Greek television programs in their offering.
The National Council of the Greek National Minority in Serbia, as well as the Association Greeks of Vojvodina, the Association of the Greek National Minority in Serbia, but also many individuals, both Greeks and Serbs, who are aware of the extent to which this would positively influence future Greek-Serbian relations, have fully supported this petition.
(T.T./Telegraf.rs)