Assembly House in Nikola Pasic Square was today the venue for the presentation of the book Kosovo and Metohia: the past, memory, reality, by historians Dr Momcilo Pavlovic and Dr Predrag J Markovic. The attendees were welcomed by the Chairman of the National Assembly, Predrag Markovic, who commented on the fact that work at Assembly House, after more than a century, begins not with a sitting, but a book presentation. ‘This House is a place where we all have to learn that the state is more just than a single body, institution, man, or party – it is, rather, made through co-operation within the system’, Markovic said. He added that ‘the Modern History Institute was founded by the Serbian National Assembly; therefore all of its activities should be aimed at upholding the interests of the Serbian state’. Markovic underlined that it was important for all of us to learn the facts – ‘this book teaches us that, and tells us that knowledge is the integrative factor that will be used for future decision-making’. The Chairman said that the House would soon see debates on Kosovo and Metohia – on events that are still not in the past – and decisions about how people will live in the region in the future. ‘Therefore, he who remains impartial in this House when it comes to Kosovo and Metohia has no heart – but he who does not know the facts about Kosovo and Metohia has no wisdom. This book, this compilation, is the distillation of all that could be said about Kosovo and Metohia in one place’, Mr Markovic concluded.

The Minister of Science and Environmental Protection in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Dr Aleksandar Popovic, and the authors, spoke about the book. The attendees were also treated to a performance of folk songs from Kosovo and Metohia, sung by deacon Vladimir Rumenic and Dejan Pesic, music teacher at the Stankovic School of Music; a short film about Kosovo was also screened. Kosovo and Metohia: the past, memory, reality was published by the Modern History Institute and Novi Sad-based Preporod MM publishing house, with the patronage of the Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.