OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities visits Serbia, discusses enhancing minority participation

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, visited Serbia from 12 to 14 June 2013 to discuss national minority issues with representatives of central and local government and community leaders.

He welcomed the Government’s efforts to implement the steps agreed during the second round of informal consultations between Serbia and Romania which were held under his auspices earlier this year. The aim of the consultation was to assess progress and agree on practical steps to further promote the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in eastern Serbia.

“I am pleased to see that progress has been made with regards to implementing the conclusions reached in the bilateral consultations,” Vollebaek said. “Some areas of eastern Serbia now enjoy access to locally produced programmes in the Romanian language, as well as re-broadcasts of Romanian language programmes produced in Vojvodina.”

The High Commissioner also met local leaders from southern Serbia, noting that the region had remained calm since his visit last January.

“The steps taken by the Serbian Government to strengthen the work of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa and the intention of the Government to engage in dialogue with ethnic Albanian leaders from southern Serbia at the highest level will help to reduce tensions in the region,” Vollebaek said.

Vollebaek welcomed long-term initiatives such as the bilingual (Albanian/Serbian) Bujanovac Department of the Faculty of Economics of Subotica, but underlined that more work needs to be done to ensure their sustainability.

The High Commissioner also met several representatives of National Minority Councils, which promote the participation of national minorities in decision making. The High Commissioner also welcomed the decision by the Serbian Government to establish a Council of National Minorities at central level chaired by the Prime Minister.