A delegation of the Committee on Interethnic Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, headed by the Committee Chairman, Miletic Mihajlovic, talked today to a delegation of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The Committee members, representatives of the Roma, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Bosnian and Ruthenian national minorities, briefed the members of the Advisory Committee’s delegation on the basic problems the members of these national minorities face, above all, concerning their representation in the representative bodies and state institutions, in the area of schooling and education, as well as the problems of displaced persons and returnees.

The Committee members particularly stressed the need to pass a bill on National Minorities’ National Councils which will legally regulate their jurisdiction, as well as an Anti-Discrimination Bill, as soon as possible. They deemed that these bills will significantly influence the improvement of the position of national minority members in Serbia.

The Head of the Advisory Committee’s delegation, Rainer Hofmann, pointed out that the goal of the visit is to appraise the implementation of the Framework Convention in Serbia and that the talk with the members of the Committee on Interethnic Relations will help to create a more complete picture of the position and protection of minorities in Serbia.

Deputies Vitomir Mihajlovic, Petar Kuntic, Serif Hamzagic, Olena Papuga, Jon Magda, Jovan Damjanovic and Gabor Lodi also took part in the talk.

Apart from the Vice President Rainer Hofmann, the Advisory Committee’s delegation also included Tonio Ellul, Dalibor Jilek and Stephanie Marsa from the Framework Convention’s Secretariat.