Protection Of Human Rights Preserves Peace, Stability In The Country – Selakovic

As a democratic and multiethnic state, Serbia deeply respects its multiculturalism, considers this to be an advantage of its development,” Selakovic said in Vrsac at the start of a public debate on the draft law on amendments to the Law on the National Councils of the National Minorities.

According to the last census, without the data on Kosovo-Metohija, national minorities account for around 13 percent of Serbia’s population, with over 30 national identities, Selakovic noted.

That diversity is Serbia’s great cultural treasure, but only if the state pursues the right policy of integration and conflict prevention, the justice minister said.

Selakovic thanked representatives of the OSCE, Council of Europe, and the government’s Office for Human and Minority Rights for taking part in the work on that document, and the national councils of national minorities in particular for their immense contribution.

Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard said that the councils of national minorities in Serbia achieved great progress in the previous period, adding that certain improvements to that law were needed.

I hope that after the Constitutional Court’s decision, the process for amending the Law on the National Councils will be continued, Burkhard said.

(2013-12-02/inserbia)