Under the new Carta Serbica programme, foreign nationals with Serbian roots who were born abroad or have left Serbia due to certain circumstances and renounced Serbian citizenship can obtain a one-year residence permit in Serbia and apply for citizenship, PM Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday.

Presenting the programme, Brnabic said it also included additional facilities and incentives, such as tax and customs facilities and the possibility of providing housing loans to tax non-residents in collaboration with the Postanska stedionica bank.

Our people in the diaspora are a treasure because their return to Serbia brings enthusiasm as well as new experiences and knowledge, she said.

“Our people in the diaspora are a great potential and treasure, as are all those who want to return or come here to see how things are and later decide about citizenship, investing, starting companies,” Brnabic said.

She said the Carta Serbica programme was inspired by a similar campaign in Poland and designed to enable all people with Serbian roots who are citizens of other countries to legally reside in Serbia.

“And to live, work and study here, and to make further decisions,” Brnabic added.

The programme is implemented by the organisation Point of Return.

Its director Ivan Brkljac said all second- or third-generation expats born abroad and people displaced during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, as well as those who had to renounce Serbian citizenship due to certain circumstances in their lives, were eligible for the programme.