OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities notes progress, remaining challenges in Serbia
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek visited Serbia from 28 to 31 January 2013 to meet key Serbian officials, including President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, and to follow up on several issues of his concern in eastern and southern Serbia.
The High Commissioner assessed the efforts made by the Serbian Government to implement the steps agreed during informal consultations held under his auspices in Amsterdam in October 2012. Representatives of the Serbian and Romanian Governments had agreed to improve access of persons belonging to national minorities in eastern Serbia to broadcast media in the Romanian language; introduce teaching of the Romanian language with cultural elements; and support the exercise of religious freedoms.
Vollebaek said he was pleased that programmes are already being rebroadcast in the Romanian language through a local TV station in the town of Bor. He also welcomed the Serbian Government’s commitment to introduce a course of Romanian language with cultural elements in several schools in eastern Serbia in the academic year 2013–2014, but noted that the Government has much to do to be able to start the course in September. In addition, Vollebaek raised the issue of church services in the Romanian language.
The High Commissioner also visited southern Serbia in light of his concerns following a recent deterioration in inter-ethnic relations. Vollebaek said: “I am concerned about the lack of trust between ethnic Albanians and the Government in Belgrade and about the risk of ethnic tensions spreading further.” He noted that the worsened situation has already had repercussions in the wider region, and urged both sides to find a lasting compromise, including on the issue of controversial monuments, and welcomed that both sides had expressed their willingness to continue a dialogue. Vollebaek affirmed the key role of the Co-ordination Body for the Municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa as a direct channel of communication between the Government in Belgrade and local political leaders in southern Serbia.
While in Bujanovac, Vollebaek also visited the multilingual and multi-ethnic department of the Faculty of Economics of Subotica to discuss the progress achieved and remaining challenges. He expressed his satisfaction with the fact that both Serbian and Albanian students have been increasingly interested in joining the department, and student numbers have been growing.
Vollebaek welcomed the plans to construct permanent premises for the Faculty that would accommodate all current and prospective students, and urged all parties involved to ensure that construction will be completed by the projected deadline of autumn 2013, in time for the next academic year. “The project gives hope to the region and it is a true example of what co-operation between the local institutions and central government should be like,” Vollebaek stressed.