The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ana Brnabic held her first meeting with the Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret, who used the opportunity to congratulate her on assuming the position of Speaker and wished her success. The official discussed the continuation of good cooperation and the role of the National Assembly in Serbia’s European integration process.
The National Assembly Speaker said that transparency and openness will be the fundamental characteristics of her mandate and that she would push for the strengthening of institutions and democratic principles in Serbia.
Speaker Brnabic expressed overwhelming concern and disagreement with the recommendation to accept the unilaterally declared independent Kosovo into the Council of Europe, with the hope that the decision would be reconsidered because this would violate the Statute of the Council of Europe, thus jeopardising its role in the protection of human rights and the rule of law.
Speaking of yesterday’s consultations concerning the deputy chairpersons of the committees, the Speaker said that though representatives of all the parliamentary groups were invited to the meeting, representatives of the opposition did not come. Of course, the Speaker said, the intention to establish dialogue with the opposition will remain for the duration of her chairmanship of the Serbian parliament, in the best interest of the citizens of Serbia.
She also informed the Ambassador that she had scheduled the first meeting of the Collegium for Monday to discuss, along with all the parliamentary groups and the Serbian Government’s Working Group, the implementation of the ODIHR recommendations in the interest of improving the electoral process and strengthening democracy in Serbia.
Ambassador Giaufret welcomed the National Assembly Speaker’s dedication to openness and dialogue and encouraged the institutions’ and political spectrum’s further efforts toward ensuring the participation of all the political actors in the democratic process.
