Dacic: Spiritual wealth must not be neglected

HILANDAR - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic underscored during his visit to the Hilandar Monastery at Mount Athos that the spiritual edifice is one of the most important treasures of the Serb people and it must not be neglected.

Dacic expressed satisfaction with his visit to Hilandar on the Day of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of the Serbian Grand Principality Raska (1113-1199) and the founder of the Nemanjic dynasty.

Dacic said that the aim of his visit to the Hilandar Monastery is to establish what has been done in terms of repairs of the consequences of the catastrophic fire which caused extensive damage to the monastery in 2004.

Dacic recalled that the Serbian government invested around EUR 10 million in the reconstruction of Hilandar, which is enough to complete 50 percent of planned works.

He underscored that the government will continue providing assistance to the monastery as one of the biggest treasures of the Serb people.

I underscored on several occasions that Serbia needs to preserve its cultural and historic heritage and other Serbian holy sites such as the monuments in Kosovo-Metohija, Corfu and Vido (Greece), Dacic said.

He pointed out that the cultural heritage of the Serb people is one of the most important monuments for world culture as confirmed by the fact that the Mount Athos where the Hilandar Monastery is situated is included in the list of UNESCO world heritage as of 1988.

The Mount Athos management expressed gratitude to the Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs for its assistance in extinguishing the fire which broke out two years ago in which 50 members of fire-fighting units were engaged.

Dacic attended the liturgy in...