The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic spoke today at the opening of the fifth meeting of the standing committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) held in Belgrade between 24 and 27 June at the National Assembly House. Today’s gathering was opened by PAM Vice-President Abdelkader Fedala.

In her address, the NARS Speaker stressed: “In addition to UN recognition gained very early in its work, the importance of the Mediterranean dimension of our cooperation has also been recognised by the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia which will continue to spare no effort to fully support and participate in all PAM activities”.

“Among the issues our country and parliament are particularly interested in are the issues of refugees and internally-displaced persons, their rights, status and fate. Expending great effort to resolve and overcome these issues we applaud the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean in this domain and recommend this burning issue in the Western Balkans region to your attention in addition to the issues of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue which are already among the topics you deal with”, Djukic-Dejanovic said.

PAM’s working bodies comprise the plenary assembly, bureau, three standing committees and ad hoc committees and task forces. The first standing committee is charged with political cooperation and security, the second standing committee is charged with cooperation in the spheres of economy, society and environment, and the third is charged with dialogue among civilisations and human rights. The meeting of the three standing committees held in Belgrade is a preparation for PAM’s plenary session to be held in Rabat (Morocco) at the end of October 2010.

In addition to Serbia, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean gathers 24 member states of the Mediterranean region. The organisation aims to overcome regional problems such as congealed conflicts, organised crime, illegal migration, forced migration, energy source availability, preservation of natural resources etc.