At its sitting held on 11 April 2006, the Culture and Information Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia discussed the Report of the Ministry of Culture on the implementation of the Ministry’s 2005 Action Plan, and the 2006 Action Plan. The report was presented to Committee members by the Minister of Culture in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Dragan Kojadinovic.

The report was adopted after having been discussed in detail. The Committee resolved that measures adopted thus far by the Ministry – public admonishment of media outlets not adhering to the Public Information Act – have not borne fruit as far as adherence to the Act was concerned. Committee members requested the Ministry to follow statutory procedure and press charges against media not adhering to the Public Information Act.

The Committee unanimously resolved that it was necessary for the Ministry of Culture to draft a culture development strategy for Serbia. Committee members also requested the Ministry of Culture to report on activities of cultural institutions operating in Kosovo and Metohia, on implementation of public tenders in the field of culture, and on the strategy to be used to resolve problems that have been identified.

The Committee expressed support for efforts of the Museum of Theatrical Art, the only specialised museum of its kind in Serbia, to acquire a repository for storing exhibits, and required the Ministry of Culture to undertake all necessary measures from within its purview and report back to the Committee within 30 days.

The sitting adopted the motion of Committee chairman Aleksandar Lazarevic for all deputies’ groups to nominate, by 14 April 2006, their candidates for membership on the Programme Board of the Serbian Broadcasting Institutions, the successor to RTS, the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, due to become operational by 30 April 2006. The National Assembly elects 18 members of the Board – 12 are appointed at the proposal of the Republic Broadcasting Agency, while six are elected from the ranks of National Assembly deputies.