COORDINATION BODY’S WORK ASSESSED AS EFFECTIVE IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S REPORT

13. November 2015.

In the European Commission’s report on Serbia's progress on its European path in 2015, which refers to the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, it was stated that the situation in the three municipalities was generally stable.

Also stated in the document was that the dialogue between the central authorities and local ethnic Albanian leaders on a comprehensive program of integration and economic recovery hadn’t resumed, as well as that a more constructive cooperation of all stakeholders was required in that respect.

In order to address the inaccurate figures on the number of inhabitants in these municipalities, arising from the boycott of the 2011 census by ethnic Albanians, as well as the consequences of planning, the Government of the Republic of Serbia decided to adopt an estimation of the population, which was done with the assistance of independent international experts and in accordance with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee for the Protection of National Minorities.

The European Commission stated that the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia continued to efficiently perform its activities and added that its role should be supported. In October 2015, the fourth generation of students was enrolled in the Department of the Faculty of Economics in Bujanovac, while students from Bujanovac and Presevo studying at University of Novi Sad received new scholarships.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia continued investing in these three municipalities and providing grants to the local entrepreneurs.

Further stated in the report is that the area of South Serbia remained underdeveloped, that the ethnic Albanian population remained underrepresented in public institutions and that the Republic of Serbia would draw up a plan for the protection of minorities by the end of 2015, which is a precondition for opening Chapter 23 in the negotiations of the European Union and the Republic of Serbia.

Source: European Commission’s Report on Serbia's Progress on its European Path in 2015 and Coordination Body