Prof. Dr Dragoljub Ackovic said that today Serbia marks the National Roma WWII Genocide Victims' Remembrance Day and on that occasion, the current sitting is being attended by guest representatives of the Roma National Council in Serbia and guests from the Republic of Croatia.

Sandra Jokovic, on whose initiative the sitting was organised, said that, to mark the National Roma WWII Genocide Victims' Remembrance Day, the Subcommittee laid wreaths in Jabuka, near Pancevo, paying tribute to the Roma victims. The reason for this commemorative gathering was 16 December 1942, when Heinrich Himmler issued an order for the systematic removal of Roma into concentration camps for liquidation. As a result of the systemic pogrom, until 2 August 1944, the Auschwitz camp detained more than 23,000 Roma, about 20,000 of whom died, Jokovic said.

Dalibor Nakic, President of the Roma National Council, said that the National Assembly should be the place where this topic is discussed. He used the opportunity to mention that initiating and harmonising the school curricula in Serbia could help expand the topic of Roma suffering in WWII, because it is not much represented in education.

Croatian Parliament Member Veljko Kajtazi expressed satisfaction with the call for cooperation, adding that Croatia marks the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August, as recognized by the Parliament. At his initiative, the Croatian Parliament has also recognized the World Day of Romani Language - 5 November, as well as the International Romani Day. Kajtazi also said that Croatia is the only country in the world offering Master's degree in Romani studies. In the continuation of his presentation, the Croatian MP spoke about the initiatives launched in Croatia on this issue, the Roma Memorial Centre Ustica, Wall of Pain memorial and his activities in Parliament.

Suzana Krcmar of "Kali Sara" Federation of Roma in the Republic of Croatia spoke about the projects the association in involved in, summer schools, housing and employment of Roma, mentioning the future project of the European Roma Sports Centre in Croatia. She added that the Federation enjoys the support of the Prime Minister of Croatia and is a partner to the Government.

The sitting was chaired by Subcommittee member Sandra Jokovic and attended by Chairman Prof. Dr Dragoljub Ackovic and Subcommittee members Stefan Srbljanovic and Vesna Nedovic, with the following guest representatives of Roma organisations and institutions Pava Cabrilovski, Stevan Jovanovic, Ljiljana Mihajlovic, Dejan Vlajkovic, Aleksandar Belinanovic, Stanko Boric, Adi Sinani and Jadranka Ivkovic.