The Serbian national flag was raised for the first time in Harmony Square to mark Serbian Statehood Day on Thursday 15 Feburary.
Mayor Lana Formoso – the first Greater Dandenong mayor of Serbian heritage – hoped the event would become an annual tradition.
Serbian Statehood Day marks the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 as well as the formation of the first modern Serbian constitution in 1835.
“We have worked hard to find our place in multicultural Australia,” Cr Formoso told the gathering.
“It is with pride that we raise our children, the next generation, to respect their Serbian heritage, and also respect and embrace what makes multiculturalism so precious, valuable and liveable.”
Among the guests were Rade Stefanovic, the Serbian Ambassador to Australia, as well as Ivana Isidorovic, who is the Serbian embassy’s deputy head of mission.
Priest-Stavrophor Milorad Loncar, Keysborough Serbian Orthodox Chuch dean Aleksandar Savic, Kingston mayor Jenna Davey Burns, Greater Dandenong deputy mayor Richard Lim and councillor Bob Milkovic were also in attendance.
Greater Dandenong is home to up to 5000 residents of Serbian origin. They’re among 33,000 in Victoria.
Cr Formoso said 68 per cent of Greater Dandenong’s residents were born overseas “just like both my parents”.
“They like many Serbs who left former Yugoslavia for a better life and a better future for their themselves and their families.
“Many did so due to the awful devastation of war.
“I was born here but both my parents and I have strong family ties to their homeland and deep cultural connections.”
