Thanking the delegation for Bundestag’s assistance on Serbia’s path to Europe, Elvira Kovacs said that the opening of EU negotiation chapters 23 and 24 is extremely important for national minorities. Kovacs added that the Government of the Republic of Serbia had in March of this year adopted an Action Plan for Exercising the Rights of National Minorities and closely monitors its implementation. Kovacs also informed the Bundestag delegation about the structure of the parliamentary groups and gender representation in the current legislature which is defined by law saying that women should make up one third of members of the National Assembly. The same proportion is applied in provincial and local assemblies, but certain segments of the executive fall short of the principle of gender proportionality, added Kovacs.

The German MPs reaffirmed their support for Serbia’s progress toward Europe, hoping that the good mutual cooperation would continue in the future.