The FINANCIAL — At the end of a 3-day visit to Serbia, PACE President Anne Brasseur praised the deep commitment of the Serbian authorities and of the political stakeholders across the board to the European ideals and values defended by the Council of Europe. “Serbia is a full member of our Pan-European community of values, sharing the highest standards of human rights, rule of law and democracy,” stressed PACE President in her address to the Serbian Parliament.
Welcoming progress achieved in the implementation of commitments and obligations to the Council of Europe, Anne Brasseur encouraged the authorities to keep the momentum of reforms in a number of priority areas. She particularly stressed the need for further reform of the judiciary, strengthening media pluralism and transparency of media ownership, as well as upholding minority rights. “All stakeholders must combine their efforts to achieve a common goal: making Serbia’s democracy stronger, upholding the rule of law, and guaranteeing the protection of human and minority rights to the highest European standards. Parliamentarians from both the majority and the opposition have a special role to play in this process by exercising political control over the executive and scrutinizing government action, ” emphasized PACE President.
As some reforms require a change in the Constitution, PACE President encouraged the authorities to take full advantage of the expertise of the Venice Commission for this reform process, according to PACE.
In her bilateral discussions, Anne Brasseur paid particular attention to the reforms in the media sector. “Freedom of the media is one of the pillars of a democratic society. The recently adopted legislation provides a good legal framework for media pluralism; its implementation should now be “priority number one”. At the same time, we should not forget that freedom comes with responsibility; journalists and media outlets must respect the standards of professional ethics,” stressed PACE President.
Meeting with the representatives of the minority communities in Vojvodina, PACE President welcomed the good legal framework for the protection of minority rights as well as the spirit of dialogue and co-operation that exist between the representatives of the minority communities and the authorities. “The implementation of minority rights is always a work in progress and I understand from my discussions that there are still a number of unresolved issues. Dialogue is important in addressing these issues and the National Councils of National Minorities are a good mechanism for finding solutions together. I encourage all stakeholders to continue in the same vein.”
Turning to regional co-operation, PACE President stressed the role that all countries of the region have to play to ensure regional stability. “The fact that all countries of the region are committed to a European integration dynamic is an opportunity for consolidating stability and promoting co-operation.Ensuring that justice is served for the past and searching – together – for common solutions to common problems is a must. Dialogue is the only way to move forward and I praise the authorities of the countries of the region for their commitment to promoting co-operation and their willingness to develop personal contacts ,” emphasized Anne Brasseur.
Speaking about Pan-European co-operation, PACE President highlighted the special role of politicians in combating intolerance, hate speech, as well as any manifestations of populism and extremism in politics. “All my interlocutors in Serbia gave their full support to the Council of Europe’s action against intolerance; when populism is on the rise across Europe, we must speak out against hate speech, inflammatory and divisive rhetoric, so as to defend the values of democratic societies,” concluded PACE President.
During her official visit to Serbia, PACE President met with the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs. She also held meetings with the leaders of the parliamentary groups of the National Assembly, parliamentary Committees, representatives of civil society and the diplomatic community as well as the authorities of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and the Chairpersons of the National Councils for National Minorities. She also addressed the Serbian National Assembly and gave a lecture to students at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.
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