International and Interarchival Cooperation

The Historical Archives of Belgrade cannot boast of intensive international cooperation. The mid 90s of the last century are important because of the establishment of cooperation with the Union of the Moscow Archives, following the initiative of the Historical Archives of Belgrade to sign the Agreement of Cooperation on 20 June 1996, in Belgrade, on the occasion of an official visit of the delegation of the Moscow Archives to Belgrade. Until 2000 cooperation was carried out with the exchange of visits, exhibitions, publication of archivals etc.

As of 2002, the Archives takes a new course in international contacts. It turns toward the Council of Europe and a few countries of interest to the study of the history of Belgrade and the region. In September of the same year, following the suggestion of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Archives was the host to the Commission for Cultural Cooperation of the Council of Europe which gathers together all referral institutions of culture of the Republic of Serbia.
The director of the Archives, Branka Prpa, PhD, took part in the meeting of experts held in Strasburg on 25/26 November 2002 where the archival professionals from the territory of former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with a group of international experts, defined a joint action plan and future cooperation. Branka Prpa, PhD, proposed a project entitled The Creation of Archives Fonds at the Archival Institutions of Belgrade, Priština, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Skopje for the Period of Yugoslav Wars 1991-1999 in Accordance with the Oral History Concept, accepted in Strasburg 2003. The goal of the project was the collection of oral testimonies of the people involved in the events on the territory of former Yugoslavia which took place in the wars between 1991 and 1999, so as to make it possible for the present and the future generations to use them as primary sources for the study of the state and social history of the last decade of the 20th century. The methodology for the collection of oral testimonies has been defined, but the realization of the project has not begun as yet.
In the organization of the Council of Europe, the Archives took part in the National Debate, within the framework of the Mosaic project, carried out on 27-28 June 2003 in Belgrade where experts' reports and proposals for the production of a document concerning the cultural policy of Serbia were discussed. Also, the Archives participated in the activities of the Seminar entitled Cultural and Commercial policy held on 17-18 November of the same year and devoted to the preparations of our country for joining the World Trade Organization.
The Historical Archives of Belgrade has established direct cooperation with the Archives of the City of Budapest (Hungary) focused on the realization of an international exhibition Belgrade through the centuries /XVI-XX century/, within the framework of the 2nd international Danube Conference on Art and Culture in September 2003. András Horváth, the deputy director of the Archives of the City of Budapest, was the guest of the Archives and a participant in the 2nd international Danube Conference. As a result of his visit to Belgrade and the Archives there came an offer for a joint effort in the study of the fonds kept in the Archives of the City of Budapest some of which have documents written in the Serbian language and referring to the history of the Serbs in Hungary. The suggestion was accepted. The return visit to the Archives of the City of Budapest occurred on 16-17 November 2004 on the occasion of the unveiling of the new premises of their Archives.
The director of the Archives paid a visit to Sarajevo in September 2003 as a member of the delegation of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade. On the occasion she visited the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Historical Archives of Sarajevo. She spoke about the possible cooperation on the project of Oral History as a regional project. Interest was shown in the project and a general agreement to take part in the project was given.
Long-term plans in this area envisage the establishment of cooperation with Austrian, Turkish and Bulgarian national Archives where some archivals of interest to the history of Belgrade are kept. There are plans for cooperation with the British National Archives, at the bilateral level, as well as for cooperation with a broader archival community within the framework of International Council on Archives.
In Budapest on October 30th 2009 was signed Agreement on cooperation between Budapest and Belgrade City Archives. In the period between 29 and 31 October 2008, Historical Archives of Belgrade made an expert visit to the Budapest City Archives and National Archives of Hungary. On that ocassion, Historical Archives of Belgrade and Budapest City Archives signed an agreement which formalized previous successful cooperation. Cooperation includes documentation research, exchange of reproduced archive materials and archivists, technical literature and expiriences, organizing and realization of mutual projects.

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