The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and acting President of Serbia, Predrag Markovic, today separately met the Canadian Ambassador, Donald MacLennan, the President of the National Council of the Hungarian ethnic community, Laszlo Jozsa, and the Director of the Democracy Transition Institute, Bruce Jackson.

Mr Markovic acquainted the Canadian Ambassador with the events in Kosovo and Metohia, as well as the measures being undertaken to calm tensions and prevent violence. The talks also centred on specific means of co-operation between the Serbian Assembly and the Canadian Parliament, as part of the project financed by the Canadian International Development Agency.

The President of the National Council of the Hungarian ethnic community expressed great satisfaction at meeting the Chairman of the Serbian Parliament. Issues discussed included the position of the Hungarian ethnic community in Serbia, as well as the activities, foreseen by the Act on Ethnic Minorities, of the Council chaired by Mr Jozsa.

The current political situation in Kosovo and Metohia was the topic of discussion between Chairman Markovic and the Director of the Democracy Transition Institute, Bruce Jackson. The talks centred on specific measures that could be undertaken by the international community to calm tensions and violence in Serbia; the accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the Partnership for Peace programme at the Istanbul Summit in June was among the measures mentioned.