Our TP café arrived in the Netherlands last weekend and in just three days, we met incredible people in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, heard stories about life abroad, and discussed opportunities for return, cooperation, and staying connected with Serbia.
We symbolically began the journey with a visit to the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam – a space that, through art and personal testimonies, depicts everything migration entails: departure and arrival, loss and rediscovery, nostalgia and new belonging. The visit reminded us once again how universal the themes of identity, connection, and the search for one’s place in the world are, and how important they are to the people we meet through TP café.
Later that day, we held our first TP café gathering in Rotterdam, followed by another one the next day in Amsterdam. In both cities, we brought together a small but very open and engaged group of our people, who shared their experiences with us – what it’s like to arrive and adjust to life in the Netherlands, what kinds of opportunities they’ve encountered, how connected they are with Serbia, how they raise children who often identify with Serbia even though they’ve never lived there, and how to navigate the feeling of belonging “to more than one place at once.”
In addition to personal stories, we also talked about practical matters: what returning to Serbia looks like, what the administrative preparation entails, and how to obtain Serbian citizenship for those born in the diaspora. One topic that drew special interest was the Carta Serbica program, which since 2022 has allowed foreign citizens of Serbian origin to obtain temporary residence in Serbia without having to acquire citizenship.
Through conversations like these, TP café becomes a space where personal experiences intertwine with useful information, but also a space where we can search for answers together, support each other, and spark cooperation, whether you are planning to return or simply want to stay connected with Serbia.
Our next gatherings will take us to Zurich and Prague, where we’ll continue creating space for dialogue, support, and community.
