National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
9 September 2013 The National Assembly Speaker and representatives of the parliamentary groups meet with ambassadors accredited at the OSCE Headquarters
Monday, 9 September 2013
National Assembly Speaker and Parliamentary Group Representatives Meet Ambassadors Accredited at OSCE Headquarters
Today, at the Palace of Serbia, National Assembly Speaker Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic met with 24 ambassadors accredited at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe headquarters in Vienna.
In addition to Speaker Stefanovic, the ambassadors also met with the heads i.e. representatives of the parliamentary groups: Veroljub Arsic of the Serbian Progressive Party, Dijana Vukomanovic of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Vladimir Ilic of the United Regions of Serbia, Bojan Kostres of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina and Miroslav Markicevic of New Serbia.
Speaker Stefanovic briefed the ambassadors on the current situation, priorities of the reshuffled Government and its goals, laws passed by the National Assembly and its upcoming legislative activity with a special focus on judiciary laws which, he stressed, are important for the rule of law and upcoming talks with the European Union and chapters 23 and 24 of said talks. Stefanovic underlined the importance of the anti-corruption and crime-fighting efforts i.e. the introduction of zero tolerance for corruption, priorities of the Government and parliamentary majority which he considers important both for Serbia’s European integration process and attracting significant foreign investment. European Union accession is Serbia’s chief foreign policy goal in the upcoming period, continued Stefanovic adding that the Parliament’s role in the process is very important and reminding that the National Assembly has a European Integration Committee headed by Natasa Vuckovic, representative of the largest opposition party. The National Assembly Speaker also said that he sees the National Assembly’s role in the process primarily in the control of said process and harmonisation of laws with the EU acquis and standards, and concluded that Serbia wishes to demonstrate how serious it is about European Union integration. In addition, Stefanovic stressed the importance of the progress in the talks with the provisional Kosovo institutions in Brussels, particularly as regards telecommunication and energy, also focusing on the local elections in Kosovo-Metohija and emphasising how important it is that Serbs have the same rights in the elections which, of course, extends to the name of the list. The role of the OSCE in creating a fair and safe environment for the elections is paramount in view of the fact that the position of Serbs is very vulnerable and the need to ensure a significant voter turnout.
Stefanovic dedicated part of his address to regional cooperation, cooperation with regional organisations and initiatives, with a special focus on economic and political cooperation. The National Assembly Speaker thanked the OSCE for the cooperation in the previous period and its assistance especially as regards the realisation of projects in cooperation with the Parliament.
The Norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Robert Kvile, OSCE ambassador group coordinator, thanked the officials for the reception, saying that the point of the visit is for the 24 ambassadors, who are to also visit Bujanovac, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pristina and Skopje, to learn more about the impact of the OSCE mission in the region and talk to regional leaders in order hear their opinion on issues of regional interest.
The OSCE ambassadors were then addressed by Dijana Vukomanovic who said that the current parliamentary legislature boasts 14 parliamentary groups and that communication and coordination is of paramount importance in the region which, 30 years since the outbreak of the Kosovo problem, continues to be rife with distrust, emphasising the current Serbian Government and Parliament’s major constructive contribution to finding a solution. She added that reconciliation and cooperation are of key importance in the region, a process greatly aided by parliamentary diplomacy. Vukomanovic also drew attention to the fact that next year marks the anniversary of the beginning of World War One and a reinterpretation of history would prove detrimental to the results of reconciliation in the region, concluding that Serbia has the utmost trust in the OSCE as far as the international organisation’s role in the Kosovo-Metohija elections is concerned.
Vladimir Ilic of the United Regions of Serbia said that his party believes in regionalisation of Serbia, listing as the current Government’s key achievements the historic agreement with the representatives of the provisional institutions in Kosovo, organising local elections in Kosovo-Metohija and considerable progress achieved in European integration i.e. launching European Union accession talks. Ilic thanked the OSCE for its support of the reforms, concluding that Serbia has a clear European perspective.
Miroslav Markicevic of New Serbia said that, in the past year and a half, the Government, parliamentary majority and the citizens of Serbia have shown that they are in favour of European Union accession and urged for a speedy beginning of talks with the European Union as recognition of all the efforts put into it. Markicevic also noted that the appearance of bilingual or multilingual signs on all the relevant institutions and establishments in Serbia is common, urging that the same principle be applied in the neighbouring country, an EU member, where this seems to be a problem.
Bojan Kostres of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina said that he might belong to an opposition party but he has to commend the Serbian Government’s energetic approach to European integration and addressing the Kosovo issue, as well as launching a decisive anti-corruption campaign, and expressed regret that the previous Government, endorsed by his party, had failed to do so. Kostres said that the Vojvodina parliament has 6 official languages, Croatian among them even though there are no significant linguistic differences between it and the Serbian language, adding that he believed that Vojvodina should be the bridge between Serbia and Europe.
Veroljub Arsic of the Serbian Progressive Party said that previous Government had the will but not the resolve to address the country’s biggest problems, among them, to achieve progress in the talks with the representatives of the provisional institutions in Kosovo, which in turn spurred the European integration process. Arsic opined that past burdens lead to a neglect of problems such as corruption and the rule of law. It took courage to wage battle against organised crime and corruption, stressed Arsic adding that this is a common problem throughout the region which calls for closer regional cooperation in the matter. Adding that the Public Procurement Law, passed by the Parliament, may be among the best in Europe and the world, Arsic concluded that it encouraged addressing the problem of public finance control.
UK Ambassador Dominic Schroeder had questions about the Parliament’s control role, while Greek Ambassador Andreas Papadakis asked about the position as regards the participation of the Serbian community in the local elections in Kosovo. Finally, the Austrian Ambassador asked Speaker Stefanovic what he thought about interparliamentary cooperation in the region.
Answering the ambassadors’ questions, the National Assembly Speaker said that, since the beginning of his term of office, he has viewed the National Assembly’s work through the success of its priority goals: energetic and publically visible legislative activities, protection of democracy and all minority rights, including political rights, and the Parliament’s oversight role and control of the executive. As regards the position of the local communities in the north of Kosovo and participation in the upcoming local elections, Stefanovic said that the local communities did in fact initially reject the Brussels Agreement, but considerable efforts have been invested into overcoming this and ensuring maximum voter turnout, which makes it vital to ensure the material and physical safety of Serbs, because the fact that they are endangered weakens their trust, which makes the role of the OSCE in the process all the more important. Speaking of interparliamentary cooperation in the region, Stefanovic said that considerable progress had recently been achieved as regards cooperation with the parliaments in the region, highlighting the cooperation with the parliaments of Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece, especially within the so-called twinning project on strengthening the parliament’s professional capacities. The National Assembly Speaker also mentioned meetings with the parliament speakers of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the recent visit by the Montenegrin Parliament Speaker and newly-elected and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President, Ranko Krivokapic. He also concluded that regional organisations and civic initiatives, such as the Igman Initiative, offer the potential to develop different modes of regional cooperation and relations listing the Nordic model of cooperation as something which could, in certain segments, be acceptable for this region too.
Speaker Stefanovic briefed the ambassadors on the current situation, priorities of the reshuffled Government and its goals, laws passed by the National Assembly and its upcoming legislative activity with a special focus on judiciary laws which, he stressed, are important for the rule of law and upcoming talks with the European Union and chapters 23 and 24 of said talks. Stefanovic underlined the importance of the anti-corruption and crime-fighting efforts i.e. the introduction of zero tolerance for corruption, priorities of the Government and parliamentary majority which he considers important both for Serbia’s European integration process and attracting significant foreign investment. European Union accession is Serbia’s chief foreign policy goal in the upcoming period, continued Stefanovic adding that the Parliament’s role in the process is very important and reminding that the National Assembly has a European Integration Committee headed by Natasa Vuckovic, representative of the largest opposition party. The National Assembly Speaker also said that he sees the National Assembly’s role in the process primarily in the control of said process and harmonisation of laws with the EU acquis and standards, and concluded that Serbia wishes to demonstrate how serious it is about European Union integration. In addition, Stefanovic stressed the importance of the progress in the talks with the provisional Kosovo institutions in Brussels, particularly as regards telecommunication and energy, also focusing on the local elections in Kosovo-Metohija and emphasising how important it is that Serbs have the same rights in the elections which, of course, extends to the name of the list. The role of the OSCE in creating a fair and safe environment for the elections is paramount in view of the fact that the position of Serbs is very vulnerable and the need to ensure a significant voter turnout.
Stefanovic dedicated part of his address to regional cooperation, cooperation with regional organisations and initiatives, with a special focus on economic and political cooperation. The National Assembly Speaker thanked the OSCE for the cooperation in the previous period and its assistance especially as regards the realisation of projects in cooperation with the Parliament.
The Norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Robert Kvile, OSCE ambassador group coordinator, thanked the officials for the reception, saying that the point of the visit is for the 24 ambassadors, who are to also visit Bujanovac, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pristina and Skopje, to learn more about the impact of the OSCE mission in the region and talk to regional leaders in order hear their opinion on issues of regional interest.
The OSCE ambassadors were then addressed by Dijana Vukomanovic who said that the current parliamentary legislature boasts 14 parliamentary groups and that communication and coordination is of paramount importance in the region which, 30 years since the outbreak of the Kosovo problem, continues to be rife with distrust, emphasising the current Serbian Government and Parliament’s major constructive contribution to finding a solution. She added that reconciliation and cooperation are of key importance in the region, a process greatly aided by parliamentary diplomacy. Vukomanovic also drew attention to the fact that next year marks the anniversary of the beginning of World War One and a reinterpretation of history would prove detrimental to the results of reconciliation in the region, concluding that Serbia has the utmost trust in the OSCE as far as the international organisation’s role in the Kosovo-Metohija elections is concerned.
Vladimir Ilic of the United Regions of Serbia said that his party believes in regionalisation of Serbia, listing as the current Government’s key achievements the historic agreement with the representatives of the provisional institutions in Kosovo, organising local elections in Kosovo-Metohija and considerable progress achieved in European integration i.e. launching European Union accession talks. Ilic thanked the OSCE for its support of the reforms, concluding that Serbia has a clear European perspective.
Miroslav Markicevic of New Serbia said that, in the past year and a half, the Government, parliamentary majority and the citizens of Serbia have shown that they are in favour of European Union accession and urged for a speedy beginning of talks with the European Union as recognition of all the efforts put into it. Markicevic also noted that the appearance of bilingual or multilingual signs on all the relevant institutions and establishments in Serbia is common, urging that the same principle be applied in the neighbouring country, an EU member, where this seems to be a problem.
Bojan Kostres of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina said that he might belong to an opposition party but he has to commend the Serbian Government’s energetic approach to European integration and addressing the Kosovo issue, as well as launching a decisive anti-corruption campaign, and expressed regret that the previous Government, endorsed by his party, had failed to do so. Kostres said that the Vojvodina parliament has 6 official languages, Croatian among them even though there are no significant linguistic differences between it and the Serbian language, adding that he believed that Vojvodina should be the bridge between Serbia and Europe.
Veroljub Arsic of the Serbian Progressive Party said that previous Government had the will but not the resolve to address the country’s biggest problems, among them, to achieve progress in the talks with the representatives of the provisional institutions in Kosovo, which in turn spurred the European integration process. Arsic opined that past burdens lead to a neglect of problems such as corruption and the rule of law. It took courage to wage battle against organised crime and corruption, stressed Arsic adding that this is a common problem throughout the region which calls for closer regional cooperation in the matter. Adding that the Public Procurement Law, passed by the Parliament, may be among the best in Europe and the world, Arsic concluded that it encouraged addressing the problem of public finance control.
UK Ambassador Dominic Schroeder had questions about the Parliament’s control role, while Greek Ambassador Andreas Papadakis asked about the position as regards the participation of the Serbian community in the local elections in Kosovo. Finally, the Austrian Ambassador asked Speaker Stefanovic what he thought about interparliamentary cooperation in the region.
Answering the ambassadors’ questions, the National Assembly Speaker said that, since the beginning of his term of office, he has viewed the National Assembly’s work through the success of its priority goals: energetic and publically visible legislative activities, protection of democracy and all minority rights, including political rights, and the Parliament’s oversight role and control of the executive. As regards the position of the local communities in the north of Kosovo and participation in the upcoming local elections, Stefanovic said that the local communities did in fact initially reject the Brussels Agreement, but considerable efforts have been invested into overcoming this and ensuring maximum voter turnout, which makes it vital to ensure the material and physical safety of Serbs, because the fact that they are endangered weakens their trust, which makes the role of the OSCE in the process all the more important. Speaking of interparliamentary cooperation in the region, Stefanovic said that considerable progress had recently been achieved as regards cooperation with the parliaments in the region, highlighting the cooperation with the parliaments of Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece, especially within the so-called twinning project on strengthening the parliament’s professional capacities. The National Assembly Speaker also mentioned meetings with the parliament speakers of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the recent visit by the Montenegrin Parliament Speaker and newly-elected and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President, Ranko Krivokapic. He also concluded that regional organisations and civic initiatives, such as the Igman Initiative, offer the potential to develop different modes of regional cooperation and relations listing the Nordic model of cooperation as something which could, in certain segments, be acceptable for this region too.
