PRESIDENT OF THE COORDINATION BODY MET WITH THE OMBUDSMAN

5. June 2015.

Bujanovac – Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, who, together with his associates, is on a two-day visit to the municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac, met today, on the premises of the Bujanovac-based Coordination Body’s Office, with Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

The meeting was focused on the most important issues of exercising the rights of the citizens of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja and on the ways of overcoming them. Among other things, it was stated at the meeting that following the events in Macedonia, there was no heightened tension in the territory of the three municipalities or even an increase in serious criminal offences. Mr. Jankovic said that he hadn’t heard any complaints about the conduct of the gendarmerie and the police, and added that it was very important for the governmental bodies to perform their duties in a professional manner.

The Ombudsman expressed his view at the meeting that the local media and non-governmental organizations should be more active in the struggle for human and civil rights of the inhabitants of the three municipalities and that they should encourage the citizens to turn to the Ombudsman in cases in which they considered that the public authorities had violated their rights.

It was concluded at the meeting that the specific problem of the area of Bujanovac and Presevo was the registration of residence, since the citizens who are absent from the area for a longer period of time and who fail to report their departure from the area to the competent authorities, have trouble with registering their stay. Therefore, Mr. Jankovic pointed out that it was important for the citizens to respect the regulations.

Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body, agreed with the Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and told Mr. Jankovic that the Coordination Body had good cooperation with the local self-governments and performed all its current tasks planned for 2015. Zoran Stankovic underscored at the meeting that the Coordination Body, until then, hadn’t received any complaints from the citizens of the three municipalities about violation of their rights.

Source: Coordination Body