“In addition to chairing the meetings of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, which will be my occasional duty, I feel that my election to the office comes in recognition of my years of work at the Committee. I will use my influence at the Committee to promote the values and important issues it tackles both in the Council of Europe and in Serbia, as well as represent the interests of ethnic minorities and our citizens and state before the Committee. In the near future the Committee is to supervise the application of the recommendations from the report on the situation and rights of the traditional minorities in Europe which we believe very important”, said Elvira Kovacs.

The Committee seeks to promote equal opportunities across the board and works to counter discrimination of all kinds. It deals with the rights of ethnic minorities, status of women, fight against racism and intolerance, hate speech, LGBT rights etc. The Committee comprises 84 members drawn from all five political groups in the Assembly and all the Council of Europe member states.

The National Assembly’s delegation continues its work at the First Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe where, among other things, the parliamentarians will be electing judges to the European Court of Human Rights from Serbia and Bulgaria, discuss the mandates of the Russian delegation, while the Committee on Political Affairs will be discussing the status of ethnic minorities in Kosovo-Metohija.