2015. 03. 10.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to thank my colleague McAllister, who was responsible for preparing the report on Serbia for being open to accept amendments, which are particularly important for the national minorities living in Serbia, like e.g. the Hungarians in Vojvodina.
Now several important things are included in the text, like the need for adequate funding, to ensure the use of mother tongue in all walks of life, and the need for minority presence in the state administration, the judiciary and the police.
Of particular importance is the invitation to formulate a minority action plan in the framework for the accession negotiations. This would avoid previous accession experiences: that candidates for accession only temporarily have in mind the interests of ethnic communities. It is therefore important that the application of the existing legislation and its compliance is monitor by the Commission.