RECEPTION FOR THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS YEAR’S “MOBA 2005” IN THE ROYAL PALACE

Belgrade, August 18, 2005. – HRH Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine held a reception today in the Royal Palace at Dedinje for the organizers and participants of this year’s “Moba 2005”.

The reception was also attended by His Grace Bishop of Šabac and Valjevo Lavrentije, Mr. Kosta Pavlović - representative of “Moba” manifestation and a member of the organization committee, academician Matija Bećković, professor Dragoljub Kavran and Mr. Dušan Babac – members of the Crown Council.

“Moba” is organized under the patronage of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Government, and its goal is to gather the youth (high school and university students), both from the Diaspora and from our country.

In the organization of the Eparchy of Šabac and Valjevo of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the participants of this manifestation, who come from more than twenty countries of all the continents, took part in educational, cultural-artistic and sports programs, and visited numerous historical and religious monuments and important institutions in Serbia. For this reason, today 120 participants of “Moba”, the youth of Serbian origin who come from USA, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Austria, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as our country gathered at the Royal Palace

The president of the organization committee of “Moba”, His Grace Bishop of Šabac and Valjevo Lavrentije, greeted the visitors and thanked Their Royal Highnesses for once again hosting this year’s participants of “Moba”.

The visitors were also greeted by academician Matija Bećković, a member of the Crown Council, who introduced the guests with the history of the Royal Family of Karadjordjević, and stressed that Serbia has something unique and irreplaceable, a treasure that other countries can only wish for, a dynasty of rulers with Serbian origin, the dynasty that survived more than two hundred years and that is from its origin devoted to the Serbian rescue, liberation, unification and reconciliation.

The guests were then cordially greeted by HRH Crown Prince Alexander II who welcomed them warmheartedly. He expressed his pleasure because Serbian youth from all of the world were at the Palace and because they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the history and tradition of our people, and he stressed that he was very happy because the “Moba” visit had become a tradition and because it was developing with great success from year to year.

Afterwards, Mr. Dušan Babac took the participants of the manifestation “Moba” for a tour of the Royal Palace and told them about the history and significance of this unique complex which represents part of the European heritage in Serbia.