The Municipality of Vračar and the Libero Citizens Association, together with partners and representatives of local self-governments from Skopje, Ljubljana, Brčko District, as well as an international organization from Brussels, organized today the "Europe talks" live library on the plateau in front of the National Library of Serbia within the project Europe talks, supported by the European Union's "Europe for Citizens" program.

More than 300 young people from Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Belgium and Serbia who participated in the project, as well as numerous interested citizens, had the opportunity to rent a "book" free of charge on a topic of interest to them regarding the European Union and to talk through it, break their prejudices and get informed about the way in which the institutions of the European Union function. The fact that in Serbia's public opinion for many years there has been a series of prejudices, stereotypes and misconceptions about the way in which the European Union functions, its institutions and values, has led organizers to provide young people with access to objective and accurate information on EU values ​​through a live library about the political system of the European Union.

On this occasion, the President of the Assembly of Vračar Municipality Mihailo Grupković addressed the guests, and greeted the gathered citizens and participants of the event. He mentioned that last year the municipality of Vračar marked for the first time „European Week“ event. Grupković expressed his desire to make the event a traditional one even after Serbia's accession to the EU.

Why do we do this? Serbia is on the European path, and in this process we want to emphasize the importance of the role of local self-governments, to involve citizens and help them to become familiar with the association process, the values ​​they are adopting, and the contribution they can provide in this process, so as not to create the impression that EU accession is going past them. In addition, since the entire European year of 2018 is dedicated to cultural heritage, we, with our manifestation and a whole range of activities within the framework of European Week in Vračar, locally join the celebration of the European cultural heritage, aware of belonging to the common European cultural space. That is why this plateau was selected in front of the National Library and for our initial activity, as our understanding of the slogan: "Our Heritage: Where the Past Meets the Future."

Tamara Delić, Acting Assistant Minister for European Integration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, said that the concept of "Living Library" is a great method by which young people can share their experiences, attitudes, ideas, and learn something new. She invited all attendees to take advantage of today's event to inform themselves about the process of Eurointegration.

Paul-Henri Presset, Head of Information, Communication and Media of the EU Delegation to Serbia, said that we celebrated Europe Day a few days ago, remembering the signing of the Schuman Declaration, which has become the cornerstone of European cooperation, reconciliation and prosperity. He suggested that for the citizensin the region, the process of Eurointegration is already clearly visible through visa liberalization, numerous investments, trade agreements and donations coming from the EU.

Žarko Stepanović, Acting Director of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, spoke about the significance of the program "Europe for Citizens", for which the contact point in Serbia is the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society. He added that over 2 million EUR was invested through this civil society development program in Serbia.

Vladan Trijić, deputy director of the National Library of Serbia, expressed satisfaction that the National Library of Serbia was given the opportunity to participate in the realization of this project, which aims to raise awareness and knowledge on the importance of the European Union. He noted that every book is revived at the moment when the reader takes it into his own hands, but that it is best to learn through the oral sharing of individual experiences.

Jelena Spasović, President of the Libero Citizens' Association, welcomed all the guests and participants of the project "Europe Talks" a live library, and said that the goal of this event is to erase the many stereotypes and prejudices that exist in the provision of objective information about the European Union in the public opinion of all the countries in the region about the process of Eurointegration.

The live books were represented by representatives of institutions and organizations dealing with the topic of the European Union who supported the realization of this event, the Ministry of European Integration, the EU Delegation to Serbia, the National Library of Serbia, the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, EU Info Center, Agencz for Regional Development and European Integration and Institute for European Affairs.