Serbia has reopened the country's main museum, 15 years after it was closed for renovation following neglect during the era of wars and economic crisis in the 1990s.
The reopening ceremony for the National Museum included a children's choir and a video display on the building's facade on a central square in Belgrade.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said she was "endlessly happy and proud" that her government finally has finished the job. She said the museum's ordeal symbolizes the era "when culture was marginalized."
"This is an important step toward the future that we are now building," said Brnabic. "We finally return the National Museum to all our citizens."
The museum holds a collection of key archaeological findings from the area, important works of key Serbian artists but also works by Pablo Picasso and Edgar Degas. Its years-long closure had drawn public criticism of the government's policies toward culture.
Serbia's Museum of Contemporary Art also reopened last year after years of renovation.
