Today, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in official visit to Serbia from 6 to 9 March 2010.

Djukic-Dejanovic expressed her pleasure at the PACE President’s visit and decision to address the Republic of Serbia deputies today in a Special NARS Session, scheduled for 10 o’clock.

Çavuşoğlu stressed that dialogue between different cultures and religions is the key means in the fight against extremism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and anti-Semitism which is an issue that the PACE will address in its April session so as to come up with a new approach and ideas.

Expressing his firm belief that the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly fully supports the ongoing reform in Serbia, Çavuşoğlu stated that he expects the National Assembly to give a special contribution to the reform, among other things, by abolishing the blank resignations.

The National Assembly Speaker thanked the President for the recent adoption of Dick Marty’s report and the corresponding resolution by PACE, highlighting the importance of further investigation into the trafficking in human organs and other crimes committed during and after the conflict in Kosovo. “The report should not be politicized since it should be viewed solely in the context of human rights”, stressed the Speaker. She also added that PACE’s neutral position is very important for the upcoming talks between Belgrade and Pristina.

In the meeting, Djukic-Dejanovic pointed out that the amendment of the composition of the NARS delegation to PACE would be resolved at the current regular session of the Serbian National Assembly. Çavuşoğlu said that the accreditation of PACE delegations would take place at the March or April sessions.