Arno Gujon

Gujon was born on November 27, 1985, in Grenoble (France). Between 2007 and 2010 Gouillon worked as an engineer at L'Oréal in Paris, at the Chamber of Commerce in Bordeaux, as a professor of physics at a French school in Cairo and as a quality coordinator in Zvornik (Republika Srpska) for Studen-Prom, a company exporting frozen food products to France. In 2012 Gouillon attended a master's course in political science at the University of Belgrade, majoring on the political system and institutions of Serbia. In 2014 Gouillon married French-born Serbian citizen Ivana Gajić, whom he had met in Zvornik in 2010. They have three children. Goillon is a convert to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Besides French, he speaks Serbian, English and Russian. == NGO activities ==

primary school students|Gouillon with Kosovo Serb primary school students family|Gouillon in front of a greenhouse donated to a rural Kosovo Serb family Gouillon attributes his interest in France–Serbia relations to hearing from his grandfather about the two countries' cooperation during WWI, and to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, which he felt was unjustified. At the time of the 2004 unrest in Kosovo, Gujon decide to act to provide assistance to affected Serb families. At age 19, Gouillon founded the NGO Solidarité Kosovo which aims to help Kosovo Serbs. Solidarité Kosovo claims to have organized over 44 humanitarian aid vehicles and funded dozens of projects in the areas of education, health and agriculture in cooperation with the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren, On this basis, Solidarité Kosovo has been accused of providing aid on a discriminatory basis, which is not in line with humanitarian principles. In 2019, Solidarité Kosovo funded a comic book by Nikola Mitrovic titled Welcome to Kosovo, which follows the story of a Serb refugee after the 2004 unrest in Kosovo. The book was presented at the Serbian Cultural Centre in Paris under the auspices of the Union of Serbs of France. In an article published in 2019 by the European Council on Foreign Relations, the NGO is mentioned as an example of white supremacist propaganda tools to steer public opinion against Islam as the enemy of a white and Christian Europe. == Political career in Serbia ==

In 2015, Gujon received Serbian citizenship. The Serbian Minister of the Interior, Nebojša Stefanović, handed him a Serbian passport an official ceremony in the Palace of Serbia. In 2016, Gujon joined the campaign "Let's cherish the Serbian language", sponsored by the Serbian Ministry of Culture. Two years later, he was the main figure of the "Speech Culture Caravan", which organizes trainings and panels for young people across Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Republika Srpska. He served in the position until May 2024. In this period, Gujon has been accused of using his position as a cover for political activities and propaganda, while remaining active in radical nationalist and pro-Kremlin circles both in France and Serbia. In particular, the Office has doubled the subsidies to Serbian associations in France, for a total of some 40,000 euro. and run for election in the 2023 parliamentary election. He serves since May 2024 as Director of the Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also in charge of digital diplomacy. In September 2024, Gujon is tasked by President Vucic to form teams to respond to disinformation about Serbia in foreign media. The same year, Gujon signs a MoU with the President of the Serbian Centre in Vienna, Milan Vidović, in the field of promoting Serbian culture in Austria. == Publications ==

In 2014 Gujon published the book "All My Roads Lead to Serbia" ("Svi moji putevi vode ka Srbiji") in which he explains his decision to support Kosovo Serbs and to move to Belgrade. He participated in writing and publishing of three books in French on Serbia and Kosovo: • 2013. ''Au cœur de l'Europe Martyre'' (Édition L'Age d'Homme) • 2016. ''Peuples persécutés d'Orient'' (Édition du Rocher) • 2020. A la Serbie - ouvrage collectif dirigé par Luc Luret (Edition un infini cercle bleu) Arno Gouillon is the editor of the NGO's magazine which is published in France every three months, with a circulation of 13,000 copies. Following the publication of a 10-page article in the prominent Figaro Magazine in June 2019, he received, along with the deputy director of Le Figaro, threats and insults from Albanians and pro-Albanian French journalists. == Acknowledgments and decorations ==

in the Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with Patriarch Irinej and Greek captain Marinos Ricudis Decorations • 2016. Gold Medal for Outstanding Merits in the Field of Humanitarian Work, granted by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić • 2018. Decoration of Saint Bishop Nikolai, highest decoration of the Eparchy of Šabac "for his great love for the Serbian people in Kosovo and for his humanitarian work" • 2018. Decoration of Saint Sava of the First Degree from the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Irinej "for the effective love shown by his wholehearted and selfless efforts in gathering and providing the necessary material and financial assistance for our Holy Church and the suffering people in Kosovo, as well as for the continuous witnessing of the truth about the life of our people in this Serbian province. Reality: Kosovo is since 2008 an independent country. " Other awards • 2012. Special award plaque for the noblest achievement of the year, awarded by Novosti • 2015. Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia based on his merits, in the Palace of Serbia from the Minister of the Interior, Nebojša Stefanović • 2017. "Branislav Mane Šakić" Award for preserving the Serbian language and cultivating the culture of speech in the electronic media. • 2018. Charter of the Knight of Saint Sava Pacifism of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia for humanitarian work in Kosovo, as well as for the commitment in France to change the image of Serbia. • 2022. "Cyrillic Grant" Award of the Cyrillic Heritage event in Bajina Bašta, for great contribution to the preservation of the Serbian national alphabet, opening of Serbian language schools abroad, assistance to schools in Kosovo and participation in The Caravan of the Culture of Speech. == References ==