The delegation comprised Advisory Committee members Anastasia Crickley from Ireland, Arzu Aghdasi-Sisan from Azerbaijan, Einar Niemi from Norway and Sara Burton from the Framework Convention Secretariat.

Greeting the delegation of the Advisory Committee, Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic underlined Serbia’s firm commitment to respecting human and minority rights, mentioning that these issues are addressed in 62 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. He reminded that Serbia has completed considerable legislative work and ratified almost all conventions on national minority rights. Listing the challenges and problems accompanying the implementation of laws in the field he announced the imminent amendments to the Law on National Minority Councils. Omerovic emphasised the importance of the National Assembly’s oversight role which should ensure a more efficient implementation of the existing laws and opined that a consistent observance of human and minority rights contributes to Serbia’s speedier progress to Europe. The Committee Chairman also said he was sure that the report on the implementation of the Framework Convention in Serbia would be positive.

The members of the Advisory Committee delegation said that during their stay in Serbia they became aware of some problems as regards exercising national minority rights and that they appreciate the efforts invested into successfully overcoming them. They were especially interested in how the Committee cooperated with the national minority councils and how minority rights were exercised in Vojvodina and other parts of Serbia.

The Committee members, national minority representatives, informed the Advisory Committee delegation about the functioning of the national minority councils, as well as their problems and the measures employed to resolve them. They emphasised the insufficient representation in state structures, funding problems, language use and education in the national minority languages.

Committee members Elvira Kovacs, Miletic Mihajlovic, Srdjan Sajn, Olena Papuga, Mile Spirovski and Teodora Vlahovic took part in the meeting.