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Parliamentary question - P-001405/2021(ASW)Parliamentary question
P-001405/2021(ASW)

Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission

The Commission closely monitors the overall situation of the rule of law in Serbia in the framework of the country’s EU accession negotiations.

In particular, Serbia is required, under Chapter 23 ‘Judiciary and Fundamental Rights’ of the EU accession negotiations, to implement its legal framework on the rights of persons belonging to minorities as well as the country’s ‘action plan for the realisation of the rights of national minorities’ in its entirety, contributing to the effective and equal implementation throughout its territory of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The Advisory Committee has, notably in its third opinion on Serbia in 2013[1], ‘encourage[d] the Serbian authorities to continue to abide strictly by the principle of free self-identification as contained in Article 3 of the framework Convention’, and ‘in parallel, encourage[d] them to take steps — while maintaining strict neutrality as to outcomes — to promote constructive dialogue […] between persons identifying themselves as belonging to the Croat and Bunjevci national minorities.’

The Commission will continue to closely monitor and report[2] on developments in this area.

Last updated: 27 April 2021
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