Speaker Stefanovic briefed Johnson on the work of the Serbian Parliament and steps undertaken to strengthen its role, particularly through the work of the committees which should, he said, play a more prominent role in controlling the executive.
The role of the parliament in international relations, which is one of the topics of the IPU Assembly, according to the IPU Secretary General has been discussed frequently in the course of the hundred-year history of the international parliamentary organisation, and it is clear, said Johnson, that the relationship between the parliament and the executive, when it comes to foreign policy has always been a topic of discussion.
Speaking of the development of parliamentarism in Serbia, the National Assembly Speaker briefed his host on the current and future programmes of cooperation with international organisations and other parliaments as regards training and conveying experience which is, he said, important for the Serbian Parliament which in its current legislature has a large number of MPs who have been elected to the post for the first time, adding that the National Assembly currently boasts a great many young people and women in particular.
IPU Secretary General Anders Johnson said that the parliament should be the engine of change and should create a vision of parliamentarism for the future, while international organisations should then take part in the realisation of plans.
The National Assembly Speaker informed his host that he would take part in this year’s public hearing at the United Nations which would also gather the leaders of parliament and where he would address the participants on one of the current topics for the Serbian Parliament and the region.
In the course of the meeting, Secretary General Johnson asked about the position of the National Assembly Speaker on the current situation in Kosovo-Metohija i.e. the continuation of the dialogue between Serbian officials and Pristina.
Speaker Stefanovic warned of the fact that support of Pristina and its aspirations is often seen as encouragement for further exile of Serbs from Kosovo-Metohija and shared his concern for the safety of the non-Albanian population. As regards the negotiations, Stefanovic drew attention to the seriousness with which Serbia approaches the dialogue with Pristina, stressing the fact that the resolution of the Kosovo-Metohija issue should not be tied to Serbia's EU accession, because the Copenhagen criteria for the accession of new member states to the Union, do not contain any relating to the recognition of other states and as they are the same for all candidate countries, they should be the same for Serbia.