The Committee on Interethnic Relations held its seventh sitting on 15 July, dedicated to the discussion of the Bill on National Councils of National Minorities, in principle.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Miletic Mihajlovic, and attended by the Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Svetozar Ciplic and associates.

On the behalf of the submitters, the Bill was presented by Minister Ciplic who pointed out the most important solutions defining the right, responsibility and obligations of the national councils to ensure that ethnic minorities exercise their rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia.

In the discussion, it was stated that the existing regulation in the field had left much room for improvisation, while the proposed solution regarding the electoral process i.e. the manner in which members of national councils are elected attracted the most attention, as well as the provision that ethnic minorities i.e. national councils can found means of public information in line with the media laws.

Participating in the discussion, the representatives of the Hungarian, Bunjevo, Vlach, Ruthenian and Roma ethnic minorities gave a positive estimate of the law and deemed that it shall contribute to raise the level of responsibility of all ethnic communities.

By a majority of votes and one reserved opinion, the Committee endorsed the Bill on National Councils of National Minorities, in principle.