The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic convened the First Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2011, for Monday, 7 March 2011, starting at 10 a.m., and set the following agenda:

1. The Address by the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to the National Assembly.

Addressing the National Assembly, President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu thanked the Parliament Speaker for the invitation, stressing that the Balkans are one of the priorities of his mandate. According to him, the Western Balkans’ European perspective today is more realistic than ever before and the Parliamentary Assembly fully supports the aspiration of the countries of the region to join the EU. A lot has been done to that effect, primarily thorough the stabilisation and association process and introduction of visa-free regime for all the countries in the region.

President Çavuşoğlu stressed that, in the past few years, Serbia has done a great deal in the European integration process. Europe is a strategic goal and political priority of the Serbian Government and Parliament. He reminded that Serbia had officially submitted an application for EU membership and the European Commission is preparing an opinion on the application, but highlighted that gaining candidacy status is not an easy task at all. According to him, it requires great political commitment as well as strenuous work on harmonising domestic legislation and the practice of member states. Therefore he urged the deputies to work constructively on the adoption of all the necessary laws and do so within the established deadline.

The PACE President went on to stress that peaceful and constructive dialogue is important to propel the society forward and political discord should not slow down essential reforms. European integration is Serbia’s legitimate political priority and key national interest, said Çavuşoğlu, urging all the political powers in the country for a constructive approach to the adoption of all laws compliant with European standards in the key reform areas, so that Serbia might gain the well-deserved EU candidate status.

EU membership is the future Serbia is hoping for, but membership in the Council of Europe is Serbia’s present, said Çavuşoğlu pointing out the need to complete Serbia’s pre-accession obligations, as well as statutory obligations to the Council of Europe. In view of this, he deemed the remaining obligations and statutory obligations to the Council of Europe practically identical to EU’s demands from Serbia. One of the key remaining obligations is full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and the Serbian authorities have, as he said, demonstrated political readiness to fulfill it and arrest the two remaining Hague defendants. With it in mind, he appealed to everyone in Serbia to spare no effort in achieving this goal, as it is in Serbia’s national interest to close this chapter of its recent history and move forward.

The PACE President believes Serbia to be, due to its geographic position, economic power and potential cultural and historical connections, the key factor of success of European integration in the Balkans, saying that Serbia must lead by example and support its neighbours’ efforts to approach Europe. He also applauded Serbia and Serbian Parliament’s efforts to meet the PACE recommendations, as well as Serbia’s contribution to the reconciliation process in the region. The adoption of the Declaration condemning the Serbrenica massacre was a significant step in the process. The recent intensification of relations with Croatia and the joint visit of Presidents Tadic and Josipovic to Vukovar give a very positive example to the region, said Çavuşoğlu, expressing his belief that President Tadic’s personal dedication and commitment will promote further progress in the process.

Çavuşoğlu emphasised two specific challenges in the region. He stressed that reforms should be endorsed, in particular the constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina which is currently lagging in the European integration process and deemed Serbia’s role in the process as crucial. The situation in Kosovo is the second key challenge for the region and Europe as a whole he said, adding that he is looking forward to the beginning of talks between Belgrade and Pristina, in line with EU standards. The PACE President hopes that the talks will help find a solution to the problems suffered by the people living in the area, no matter what their ethnic and cultural origin or language might be. People living in Kosovo are European citizens and must enjoy the same standards of democracy, human rights and rule of law as everyone in Europe which is why everyone should work together to reach this goal, concluded Çavuşoğlu.

After the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly completed his address, National Assembly Speaker Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic concluded the First Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in 2011.