The Committee on Relations with Serbs Living Outside Serbia held its seventeenth sitting on 27 December 2010. The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Branimir Djokic and attended by Miodrag Jaksic, State Secretary at the Ministry of the Diaspora.

The Committee members considered the Bill on the 2011 Budget of the Republic of Serbia, Section 29 - Ministry of the Diaspora. Elaborating next year’s budget bill, State Secretary Miodrag Jaksic said that the budgetary allocation amounts to about 228 million RSD. Compared to the 2010 budget, the 2011 budget funds envisage the lowering of travel costs as well as grants to non-governmental organisation. Jaksic added that according to the proposed expenditure structure the biggest share goes to standing expenses - mostly the lease of satellite services for the broadcasting of RTS Public Service programmes intended for Europe, North America and Australia.

Following the debate, the Committee unanimously endorsed the Bill on the 2011 Budget of the Republic of Serbia, Section 29 - Ministry of the Diaspora.

The Committee members went on to discuss the realisation of the Framework Plan for the Committee members’ visits to the diaspora. In the discussion, the Committee members agreed that delegations of the Committee on Relations with Serbs Living Outside Serbia should visit the countries in the region in 2011. Visits to Tirana (Albania) and Vienna (Austria) have been planned for 27 January 2011.