TRH IN VISIT TO RUMA AND VISNJICEVO

Belgrade, 8TH September 2004 – TRH Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Catherine, visited today Ruma and Visnjicevo. TRH Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Katherine were accompanied by the members of The Crown Council, Mr. Branko Terzic with his family, Mrs. Elizabeth Hettinger and Ms. Jennifer Rosen.

The municipality major Mr. Dusko Stojkovic and his closest associates warmly welcomed the Royal Couple and its guests in front of the Ruma Municipality Hall. He represented dear guests with the plans for the future development of Ruma and its neighborhood and thanked them on their worry and help which they give not only to Ruma but to the all of our cities.

HRH Crown Prince Alexander II spoke to the presents, and stressed that t is of high importance to continue with the development and the modernization of the agriculture, but we can not forget the old crafts which are slowly dying out. After the visit to the Municipality, Crown Prince and Princess visited the City Church and spent some time talking to the people there.

After that, they visited the Gerontological Centre “Srem”, where Jasmina Brasancevic, the chief director, and its tenants, warmly welcomed them to this centre. An ambulance vehicle, “Yugo Florida”, was donated, from the Foundation of Princess Katherine, to this very important health institution, which takes care that over 240 old people have appropriate care and good conditions for their living. In her speech HRH Princess Katherine emphasized her joy for being in opportunity, thanks to the people of good heart and the activities of her Foundation, to hand over the vehicle which will help in transport of the old people. Mr. Branko Terzic also spoke to the present party and represented them with the enormous efforts that the Crown Prince and the Princess take.

Crown Prince and Princess, on their way to Vinjicevo, paid a visit to the water supply system and spent some time chatting with the workers. In Visnjicevo, HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, ceremonially opened the first Royal kayak regatta in the quiet waters.

“Today, when we celebrate two hundred years from The First Serbian uprising, I open this first Royal kayak regatta. I see that a lot of young people are here, in their country, and that they would like to contribute to its development”, The Crown Prince emphasized in his speech.

This regatta was made out of ten races, and each race was named after one of the names of the family members of the Karadjordjevic`s. The regatta started with the race of Karadjordje, and then the races of Prince Alexander, King Peter I, King Alexander I, King Peter II, HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, HRH Princess Katherine and HRH Crown Prince Peter continued. Crown Prince and Princess congratulated the competitors on their sport spirit and wished them many successes in their future contests. After that, Crown Prince and Princess, together with their guests, paid a visit to Morovic and then continued their trip to Belgrade.