The Minister for the Care of the Village, Milan Krkobabić, said today at the pre-Michael meeting of the villages in the Mislodjin settlement in Obrenovac that the women at that event showed that they are ready to selflessly help everyone and always and that together we are better and stronger.

“If there are spontaneous meetings, then it is this one. This is a meeting to remember. Five hundred women from all over Serbia. Big heart and amazing energy,” said Krakobabić.The event with numerous handicrafts and local products on display, complete with national costumes and a children’s bazaar, was organized by the pensioners’ association of the municipality of Obrenovac, modeled after the upcoming Michaelmas meetings of the village.

The participants are women’s humanitarian associations from all over Serbia from the municipalities of Plandište, Zrenjanin, Pećinci, Kostolac, Arilje, Požega, Valjevo, Šabac, Čačak, Loznica and the city municipalities of Obrenovac, Lazarevac, Mladenovac, Barajevo and Sopot.

The guest from the environment was the women’s association from Republika Srpska.

On behalf of the organizers, Sofija Tomović addressed the attendees, who emphasized the importance of such events both for the participants engaged in humanitarian work and for all those for whom these activities are intended.

“At the base of everything is love, goodwill and togetherness. And we all enjoy the results afterwards,” she said.

The president of the municipality of Obrenovac, Miroslav Čučković, thanked Krkobabić because throughout Serbia he preserves tradition and everything that has preserved the country for centuries.

“These kinds of meetings in small communities are the soul of Serbia,” said Čučković.

The event was also attended by the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Stefan Krkobabić, and the Member of Parliament, Dragan Marković Markoni.

This year, the “Miholjski Village Meetings” will be held from July 1st to December 1st, and will bring together nearly 1,300 Serbian villages in 87 local governments, and around 150,000 people will participate and follow them.

Units of local self-governments, which received funds of up to 500 thousand dinars through the Public Competition for organizing the “Miholjski susreti sela” manifestation, devise the program, date, schedule and venue of this one-day or multi-day event themselves.

Participating contestants are residents of villages from the territory of one local self-government unit.

The activities in which they will be tried are varied, from the cultural and artistic contents of folklore, original singing, playing various instruments, painting, through the literary contents of recitation, writing songs and short folk forms, then craft and applied arts, making handicrafts, souvenirs, weaving, knitting , embroidery, knitting, and sports activities – from contemporary to traditional (throwing a stone from the shoulder, jumping from a place, pulling up a rope, pulling up a stick, etc.). A large number of them will try their hand at gastronomic competitions for making traditional dishes and cakes.