ROUND TABLE “TO BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD” HELD

21. March 2019.

Medvedja – As part of the project "Strengthening the Protection of National Minorities in Serbia", financed by the Joint Program of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility" for the Western Balkans and Turkey, a round table was held at the Gejzir Hotel in Sijarinska Spa on the topic "Official Use of Languages and Scripts in Local Self-Governmental Units ".

The event was organized by the municipality of Medvedja and the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the Republican Secretariat for Legislation and the Protector of Citizens.

The aim of the event was to present a legal framework governing the rights of national minorities, especially with regard to the official use of minority languages at the local level. The gathering brought together representatives of the municipal administration, the council for interethnic relations, the national councils for national minorities and the non-governmental sector.

First of all, the Mayor of Medvedja, Nebojsa Arsic, addressed the audience and afterwards the audience could hear and engage in discussion with the Council of Europe consultant Vladimir Djuric, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Ivan Antic, Assistant Director of the Republican Secretariat for Legislation, Darko Radojicic and Advisor in the Professional Office of the Protector of Citizens, Dragan Vujkov.

The EU and the Council of Europe supported the Medvedja municipality with a grant of 15,820 euros, so that the project "To Be Better Understood" could be implemented. This project is an example of good practice in implementing the recommendations of the Council of Europe, and the legislative framework at the local level, with the aim of improving the right to official use of languages and scripts of national minorities, as well as promotion of tolerance.

Source: Jugmedia and Coordination Body