In the speech which garnered a lot of interest and drew the attention of the participants, Speaker Stefanovic said that by accepting pluralism we can address the issue of better mutual understanding, and accept ethnic, cultural, racial and religious differences to better understand one another. He added that integration and recognising the needs of ethnic and religious minorities is an important issue for Serbia, noting that these days there are many institutions other than the state which the citizens can identify with, such as church and interest groups. However, Stefanovic said only the Parliament represent the citizens through the institute of democratic elections where they have the right to choose and be chosen and thus be the voice of the people, to defend human rights and more importantly, democracy.
Serbia is a multinational and multiethnic country. The Parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina has six official languages, which makes it the second in Europe, seeing how only the European Parliament functions in more official languages than this. We are proud of that fact, concluded Stefanovic, stressing that diversity, national identity or language cannot be an argument for secession. Serbia cannot and will not accept the secession of Kosovo-Metohija, but Serbia will at the same time fully participate in a dialogue with Pristina which should not be accepted by only the political elite but by all Albanians and Serbs as well.
NARS Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic concluded his address with a quote by former US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships - the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”