OSCE Mission to Serbia offers assistance to Bosniak National Minority Council election process

Belgrade, 14 December 2010 – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Dimitrios Kypreos, today offered the Mission's assistance to the upcoming Bosniak National Minority Council elections, which were announced earlier this week by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.

Elections to the Council were held 6 June, with support from the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The three Bosniak Lists elected met on 24 September and 9 November at meetings hosted by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and facilitated by the Mission.

The meetings aimed to support the formation of a functioning, all-inclusive and all-representative Bosniak National Minority Council. During these meetings, positive results were produced: the three Lists met for the first time since the elections, they had the opportunity to speak among themselves and with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and they accepted basic principles such as respect of the election results. But no Council had been created by the deadline set by the law.

"In a state of law, the ultimate goal is the respect of the law," Kypreos said. “The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights announced its decision to hold new elections according to the relevant provisions of the law, and the Mission stands ready to offer advice and support in the process. I welcome the remarks by Serbia’s independent authorities on certain short-comings of the electoral and post-electoral procedures of June and call on the Ministry to take these suggestions into consideration in the run-up to the new elections for the Bosniak Council.”

“Because minority councils are meant to work for the education, culture, language, and media of minorities, the participation of the Bosniaks in the coming election will underline their will to promote their rights.”