A roundtable organised by the European Integrations Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the European Movement in Serbia and the Bujanovac Municipality, and aimed at discussing national consensus on Serbia’s future in Europe, was held in Bujanovac. At the invitation of the organisers, the opening address was delivered by the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Predrag Markovic.

Mr Markovic underlined that the central issue, both of the roundtable and of the several coming years, was how to establish majority consensus, and later complete consensus, about joining the European Union. He added that this consensus was agreement between the appropriate public authorities, and especially within the National Assembly, the body that represents all the people. “There is awareness of the fact that Serbia’s future lies in Europe, as evidenced by the Assembly’s adoption of the Resolution on Joining the European Union, and I keep thanking all deputies, both those who voted in support of the Resolution and those that did not, for making it possible for the Assembly to adopt the declaration unanimously”, Mr Markovic stressed. He added that it was very important for all institutions at all levels in Serbia to adopt standards, “as the European Union does not stand for equality, but for equal conditions for all, fostering competition. That is why institutions must change, local institutions included, but never at the expense of democracy. It is our task to remove obstacles on the road to establishing consensus, not to make political problems out of them. If two municipalities have problems co-operating, they should be assisted in overcoming them, because that is our obligation towards the people of Serbia”, Markovic concluded.

The head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, Maurizio Massari, the chairperson of the European Integrations Committee of the National Assembly, Ksenija Milivojevic, as well as chairmen of the Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja municipal assemblies, Nagip Arifi, Riza Hallimi and Slobodan Draskovic, also spoke at the roundtable, which was attended by deputies and European integration experts.