New city assembly to decide on Tesla's urn

BELGRADE - Sinisa Mali, president of the interim administration of the City of Belgrade, said that the new makeup of the City Assembly will make the final decision on whether the ashes of Nikola Tesla would be relocated from the Belgrade Tesla Museum to the churchyard of the St. Sava Cathedral.

The assembly which will be formed after the early local elections in the Serbian capital on March 16 will reflect the will of the citizens, and that is why its decision on this matter will be legitimate and final, Mali stated in a release on Tuesday.

In order to protect the name and image of Nikola Tesla against any abuse during the election campaign, I decided to forward the agreement, signed recently between the Serbian Orthodox Church, the government of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, to the new Belgrade City Assembly for consideration after the March 16 elections, Mali stated in the release.

According to the agreement, the remains of Nikola Tesla are to be moved from the museum to the churchyard of the St. Sava Cathedral, where a monument dedicated to the great scientist is to be erected as well.

The agreement was signed on February 28 by Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic on behalf of the Serbian government, and city official Sinisa Mali.

Mali added that he will suggest to the new city assembly to initiate a public debate before making the final decision on the move. The debate would include the representatives of significant national institutions such as the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Matica srpska, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the University of Belgrade, and prominent cultural and public figures.

"I believe that this debate would ensure a...