The Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region Goran Bogdanovic welcomed the Romanian parliamentary delegation, saying that he hoped the friendly relations and cooperation between Serbia and Romania would continue in the future. Bogdanovic thanked Romania for its continuous support of Serbia’s Euro-integration process and its principled position of non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija.

The Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region said that today’s meeting is extremely important because every country considers the status of its citizens abroad to be a highly significant matter. He said that the Republic of Serbia is dedicated to observing human rights and the rights of national minorities which are the cornerstones of any democratic society. Speaking of the status of the Romanian national community in Serbia, Bogdanovic said that the country has a broad legislative framework regulating the status of national minorities, a fact often mentioned in the reports of international organisations.

Mihai Deaconu, who headed the Romanian parliamentary delegation, opined that Serbia is Romania’s key partner in the region. He highlighted the importance of promoting interparliamentary cooperation and dialogue for the improvement of overall bilateral relations, as well as the importance of strengthening energy cooperation via projects and infrastructure which, he said, could become the foundation of the economic exchange between the two countries. Deaconu said that Romania will continue to support Serbia’s Euro-integration. He commended the reforms conducted by the Republic of Serbia, stressing that he expected the first negotiation chapters to soon be opened.

The head of the Romanian parliamentary delegation said that the status and rights of the Romanian national minority in Serbia and Serbian national minority in Romania are very important for the development of overall relations between the two countries, adding that Romania considers three issues concerning the status of the Romanian national minority in Serbia to be of particular importance viz. education, religious service and media/information in the mother tongue.

The meeting was also attended by Committee Deputy Chairman Miodrag Linta and Committee members Dr Aleksandar Peranovic, Prof. Dr Branko Djuric, Nebojsa Beric, Bratimir Vasiljevic, Nenad Nikolic, Sinisa Maksimovic, Milorad Stosic and Aleksandar Cotric.