The Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region said that Serbia is among the countries with the highest diaspora to population ratio. Fostering relations between the mother country and the diaspora and Serbs in the region, as well as improving the conditions for learning the mother tongue and preserving the script, culture, tradition and religious identity are the priorities of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, said Veselinovic.

The Committee Chairman also stressed how important it is for Serbs to exercise their status and minority rights in the region and the countries they escaped from during the war conflicts. The officials agreed that it would be important to broach the issue at the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which Rigoni is member of.

Presenting the legislation regulating the rights of the Serbian diaspora, especially that ensuring them the right to vote and stand for election in Serbia, Dr Janko Veselinovic briefed the PACE rapporteur on the provisions and application of the Law on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, passed in 2009.

PACE rapporteur Rigoni asked about the status, position and protection of the rights of national minorities in Serbia. Veselinovic said that in 2009 the National Assembly passed the Law on National Councils of National Minorities which grants the national minorities self-government, adding that normatively the position of the national minorities in Serbia is on par with international standards.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region Miodrag Linta, who underlined the problem of exercising the rights of refugees and displaced persons.