At the beginning of the two-day meeting, the participants were greeted by Meho Omerovic, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, Barbara Lochbihler, Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights, Laszlo Tokes, member of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights, Paula Thiede, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Gordana Comic, rapporteur of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions.
The Chairman of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, Meho Omerovic emphasised how important regional cooperation is to better define similarities and understand differences. He said that we should take the effort to make sure the citizens fully enjoy their rights, aware of all the challenges of the post-conflict period, stressing how important it is for every democratic society to ensure the protection of human and minority rights.
The Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights, Barbara Lochbihler commented on the noticeable progress in policy defining and creating the legal framework for the improvement of human rights, adding however that the implementation of laws in practice, which is the biggest challenge, is something that requires additional attention. She said that the rights of Roma and the LGBT population in the region require additional attention as well.
Speaking of minority rights, Laszlo Tokes, member of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights, pointed out the good relations in the region, stressing that Romania and Hungary support Serbia’s EU accession.
OSCE Mission to Serbia Deputy Head Paula Thiede opined that Serbia is fully dedicated to the protection of human and minority rights and commended the cooperation of the countries in the region in this matter.
The rapporteur of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Gordana Comic said that it is imperative to understand that human rights have no hierarchy and that the region pooling its efforts on the issue would be good news for all of Europe. She pointed out that the National Assembly’s Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality works on reducing human suffering because, she said, the fact is though human rights are listed on a piece of paper somewhere, they are absent from reality.

In the continuation, the representatives of parliamentary bodies in charge of human and minority rights and gender equality of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor), Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliament of Montenegro and the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia presented the work and scope of their respective parliamentary working bodies tasked with human rights and gender equality.

On the second day on the meeting, the participants divided into two working groups to discuss the issues of: the Role of parliamentary bodies in promoting and protection of human and national minority rights and the Role of parliamentary bodies in improving gender equality and strengthening the political participation of women – best practice examples and biggest challenges.

At the end of the First Regional Meeting the participants signed a Joint Statement.