Ciplic: Elections for National Councils to be held on June 6

BELGRADE, March 11. (Tanjug). Members of 19 national minorities in Serbia will elect their National Councils at direct elections and via electoral assembly, Serbian Minister for Human and Minority Rights Svetozar Ciplic announced Thursday.

He told a press conference that the councils of national minorities represent a form of minority self-governance which makes possible for the members of minorities to influence the preservation of identity and protection of rights through the elected representatives, especially in the field of culture, education, informing and the official use of language and alphabet.

During the conference, Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia Dimitrios Kypreos pointed out the significance of forming of the national councils since, by this, the voice of the members of minorities will grow stronger.

He stated that Serbia has laws in that field which are among the most advanced in Europe, pointing out that, if they will be enforced in the right way, this will contribute to solving of the issue on the territory of southeastern Europe.

Ciplic specified that the members of 16 national minorities will elect their national councils at the direct elections, whereas the Macedonian, Slovenian and Croatian national minority will choose their councils at electoral assemblies.

The right to direct elections was obtained by members of 16 national minorities: Albanians, Ashkalia, Bosniaks, Bunjevci, Bulgarians, Wallachians, Greeks, Egyptians, Hungarians, Germans, Roma people, Romanians, Ruthenians, Slovakians, Ukrainians and Czechs.

Ciplic and Kypreos expressed satisfaction with the fact that the members of national minorities took part in the preparations for forming of the National Councils, as well as with the cooperation between the OSCE Mission and the Serbian Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.

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