The visit was organised as part of project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, conducted by the National Assembly in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The delegation comprised MPs Veroljub Arsic, Janko Veselinovic, Marija Obradovic, Olgica Batic and Dubravka Filipovski, Secretary General Jana Ljubicic, Assistant Secretary General Mirjana Nedeljkovic and President of the Council of the State Audit Institution Radoslav Sretenovic.

As a federal state with, to a great extent, unified political institutions and direct democracy mechanisms, Switzerland influences the role and work of the Parliament and finance management models. The delegation had the opportunity to learn about the three levels of governance: municipal, cantonal and federal, through both houses of its bicameral parliament.

Vice President of the Parliament’s lower house Christa Markwalder welcomed the delegation at the highest level, with the flag of the Republic of Serbia flying over the building of the Swiss Parliament on the occasion.

The Swiss Parliament presented the work of the Committee for the control of business dealings and finances which controls the legality, appropriateness and efficiency of the government’s decisions and measures.

The series of meetings and exchanges of experience with the members of both the houses of the Swiss Parliament, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swiss Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance and the interministerial Working Group on Combating Corruption attest to the interest drawn by the visit of the National Assembly delegation.

Today, the NARS MPs will be taking part in a special forum on the parliament with the Swiss MPs and academics dealing with political science. The forum will also be attended by the Swiss media who had followed the exchange of experience which sounded the beginning of the development of cooperation between the two parliaments and further work on improving parliamentary oversight.