Committee Chairman MA Ivan Kostic greeted the guests, drawing attention to the excellent cooperation of the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Cabinet as regards the position of Serbs in the region and the diaspora. Kostic said it was very important to learn about the problems troubling the Serbs in the diaspora through dialogue with Serb MPs from the region. He reminded everybody how significant the establishment of the National Council of Serbs in Slovenia was for the Serbs living there, adding that he expected they would soon be granted the status of national minority seeing how about 65,000 of them currently live in Slovenia.

Prof. Dr Slavomir Gvozdenovic, Serbian member of the Romanian Parliament, briefed the Committee members on the position of the about 18,500 Serbs living in Romania. He said that Romania has six Serbian elementary schools and one grammar school, Dositej Obradovic, but there is a problem with securing enough textbooks in Serbian for all the students. He went on to say that the return of property (Makrin Dom) is crucial for the Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as the posting of bilingual signs on all institutions in Romania. He also said that the Law on Citizenship should be amended so as to simplify the process of getting citizenship. Gvozdenovic also informed the Committee members the Romanian Parliament had passed a law which designated 21 November as the Day of Serbian Language in Romania.

Slavoljub Adnadj, Vice-President of the Union of Serbs in Romania, drew attention to the Union’s great contribution to the opening of three border crossings in 2014 which have considerably improved the economic cooperation between the two countries. He also informed the Committee members that Romania earmarks considerable annual funds for the Serb national community. He went on to say that it would be important to secure specific funds for regular and extra-curricular classes in Serbian from the mother country and resolve the issue of lectors of Serbian studies.

Ljubomir Aleksov, member of the Hungarian Parliament, said that the approximately 10,000 Serbs living in Hungary have the best regulated status in the region. He also added that the process of getting Serbian citizenship should be simplified for Serbs living in Hungary.

Ivan Stojiljkovic, member of the Macedonian Parliament, stressed that there is no information service in Serbian in Macedonia and appealed to the mother country to take necessary steps to resolve the issue.

Following a constructive debate, Committee Chairman MA Ivan Kostic said that all the regional MPs’ suggestions would be forwarded to relevant institutions for further consideration and handling.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman MA Ivan Kostic, and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Vladimir Djuric, MA Jadranka Jovanovic, Aleksandar Cotric, Dr Ljubinko Rakonjac, Blaza Knezevic, Dragan Veljkovic, Prim. Dr Vlado Babic and Miodrag Linta.