THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE IDENTITY OF SERBS AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN THE BORDER MUNICIPALITIES OF EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN SERBIA

The Eastern and Southeastern regions of Serbia are its most devastated parts: the majority of yonder border municipalities have for decades been the most destitute. Since the current development has not been sustainable, state interests along the border are endangered: economy is stagnating, living environment is degraded, culture is lagging behind, social life is deteriorating. Entire border regions are demographically empty, the population moving out and vanishing. There is no preservation, let alone blooming, of the cultural identity of Serbs and national minorities – Bulgarians, Vlachs, Roma, Albanians, without the sustainable development. Their identity – language, religion, tradition, and cultural heritage, will be studied and brought into a cause and effect connection with the possibilities of the sustainable development in three dimensions: economic, social, and ecological. Using appropriate methodology, the economic, social, ecological, and cultural capacity of each of these municipalities will be observed, alongside the identity of Serbs and minorities from a intercultural and over-the-border perspective, with the aim of formulating a general and specific strategies of sustainable development. Social and political actors in the border regions, districts, towns, and municipalities, all local communities, will receive tools for identifying potential and achieving sustainable development, nurturing and preserving the cultural identity of the majority and minorities.