The assembly was attended by 26 states, and the National Assembly’s standing delegation, headed by Prof. Dr Mileta Poskurica, Head of the National Assembly’s standing delegation to IAO, made a notable appearance and important bilateral contacts. In his address to the IAO General Assembly, the Head of the standing delegation pointed out that ever since it joined the organisation in 1995, the Republic of Serbia has demonstrated its commitment to the development and fostering of friendly relations with the member states of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. He thanked the IAO for its support of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and for the Resolution “Challenges faced by the Orthodox population in Kosovo-Metohijа”, adopted at the 16th IAO General Assembly, in Belgrade 2009. Concerning it, he pointed out that the Brussels Agreement had been achieved, that Serbia is working on its implementation, and hopes Pristina would do the same. Prof. Dr Poskurica restated that Serbia has done all that was required form it in the pre-accession talks with the European Union, much more than any other EU member state and therefore he does not expect any formal obstacles to a positive decision on the membership talks. He also thanked the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Christian Nations, headed by Valery Alexeev, for the Fund’s humanitarian activities and aid rendered to the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija, as well as its concrete aid and cooperation activities aimed at drawing the Serbian and Russian culture closer together and promoting orthodox values. The Head of the standing delegation informed the IAO members that the Serbian town of Nis, the birthplace of Emperor Constantine the Great, will be commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan. This legal act is very important for civilisation and religion because by it Constantine the Great enabled the spread of Christianity on the territory of the Roman Empire, declaring religious equality and halting the 300-year persecution of Christians. Today’s Serbia acknowledges the heritage of Constantine the Great and the Serbian Constitution guarantees fundamental human rights and liberties, civil rights of personal freedom and religious freedom, religious tolerance and practicing one’s faith without discrimination.
In the course of the 20th IAO General Assembly, the Head of the standing delegation, Prof. Dr Mileta Poskurica also met with the organisation’s President and member of the Russian State Duma, Sergei Popov. The officials highlighted the traditionally good and friendly relations between the two countries and the importance of their strategic partnership. They underlined the need to deepen political, economic and cultural relations. The Serbian people enjoys traditional ties with the Russian people and holds the Russian people and state’s support in high regard. The Head of the standing delegation pointed out that Serbia stands united in its state policy on the Kosovo-Metohija issue.
The members of the National Assembly’s standing delegation to IAO had other bilateral meetings where they discussed Serbia’s priorities in the upcoming period, as well as Serbia’s dedication to the development of overall relations with the friendly IAO member states.
In the course of the proceedings, the General Assembly signed a Declaration on the IAO 20th anniversary. The Declaration was signed by the President of the Hellenic Parliament Vangelis Meimarakis. Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Georgia David Usupashvili, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Sergey Zhelezniak, authorised representatives of the parliaments of Armenia, Cyprus, Belarus, Jordan, Lebanon, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria, while Deputy Speaker Dr Nenad Popovic signed the Declaration on the behalf of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly was represented at the 20th IAO General Assembly by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Dr Nenad Popovic, Head of the National Assembly’s standing delegation to IAO Prof. Dr Mileta Poskurica, and Aleksandar Cotric, member of the National Assembly’s standing delegation to IAO.