The Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, Aleksandra Djurovic welcomed the Hungarian parliamentary delegation saying how very positive it was that a meeting like this was set up now when the two countries relations are on the rise and stressing that the adoption of the Declaration of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Condemning the Acts against Hungarian Civilians in Vojvodina Committed from 1944-1945 was an indicator of Serbia’s readiness to turn toward the future. She thanked Hungary for its support of Serbia’s Euro-integration process, highlighting the excellent cooperation between the two countries’ delegations in the Council of Europe. Aleksandra Djurovic said that the position of the Serbian national minority in Hungary is satisfactory, but that there is room for further improvement. Djurovic was also interested in the possibility for the Serbian national minority to get a representative in the Hungarian Parliament sometime in the future, and asked how the regular activities of the national minorities in Hungary were funded.
Zlata Djeric greeted the Hungarian guests on the behalf of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, stressing that the rights of national minorities in Serbia are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws and that the expected amendments and modifications to the Law on National Minority Councils would further improve said rights.
Speaking about the status of the Serbian national minority in Hungary, the Chairman of the Hungarian Parliament’s Committee of National Cohesion, Arpad Janos Potapi, opined that the existence of national communities fosters important ties between the two countries. He commended Serbia’s progress in the Euro-integration process stressing that there are two opportunities to further cooperation between Serbia and Hungary. Potapi added that meetings such as this one are extremely important for the further strengthening of cooperation between Serbia and Hungary, at the same time sharing his pleasure at the fact that the Hungarian national minority in Serbia has its own National Council.
The meeting was also attended by Ana Novkovic, Radoslav Milovanovic, Svetislava Bulajic, Miodrag Linta, Milan Lapcevic, Teodora Vlahovic, Arpad Fremond, Mile Spirovski and Miletic Mihajlovic, members of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region and the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality.