ADDRESS BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE,

TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

BELGRADE, 7 March 2011, 10 a.m.

Madam Speaker, Dear Colleagues, Friends,

It gives me a great honour and pleasure to address today the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The Balkans is one of the priorities of my mandate. Since I was elected President of the Assembly in January 2010, I visited several countries of the region: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria. In about two months time I am going to visit Croatia. I am therefore very grateful to Madam Speaker for inviting me today to visit Serbia and for giving me the possibility to address you.

Dear colleagues,

As you know, the Council of Europe was founded more than 60 years ago in the wake of the Second World War by political leaders who shared the firm will to prevent similar tragic conflicts from happening again. To build lasting peace, our “Fathers Founders” decided to concentrate the work of the Council of Europe on “soft security”, based on common values and standards, by contrast to “hard security” based on national defence and collective defence agreements.

“Soft security” and stability in Europe can only be achieved by strengthening democracy, human rights and rule of law. These fundamental values are the building blocks of our common European home which brings together today 47 states – all European countries with the exception of Belarus. The 27 member states of the European Union also share the same values, as exemplified in particular by the ongoing process of accession of the European Union to the European Convention of Human. This is why over the past 20 years the Council of Europe has become a real “school of democracy” and, as some will say, an ante-chamber of the European Union.

Dear friends,

Today, the European perspective of the Western Balkans is as never before real. The Parliamentary Assembly fully supports the countries of the region in their aspiration to join the European Union. And a lot of progress has been achieved on this front; you know it very well.

The Stabilisation and Association Process, in which all countries of the region are participating, provides a fantastic opportunity to modernise our societies and boost the necessary institutional and economic reforms, on the basis of shared values and common standards. It also makes people physically closer to each other: since December 2010, the Western Balkans have become a visa-free area and citizens of all countries of the region can freely travel to Europe to share their experiences and learn from their neighbours. This is a tangible result of European integration which all people living in the region can enjoy!

Dear friends,

In the past couple of years, Serbia has made a lot of progress in the process of European integration. Europe is a strategic goal of the Serbian people and a policy priority of the Serbian Government and Parliament.

Serbia has officially applied for membership in the European Union and the European Commission is now preparing an opinion on Serbia’s application. Obtaining candidate status is not an easy task: it requires strong political commitment but also hard work in terms of harmonising the domestic legislation and practices with the membership criteria. I know it from my own experience. My own country – Turkey – had to implement a number of ambitious reforms for the opening of the membership talks. I am sure that in the coming weeks and months you, as parliamentarians, will have to invest a lot of efforts into adopting the necessary legislation, in line with the agreed deadlines.

Of course, there are always different opinions about how key reforms should be implemented. The majority and the opposition do not always agree. It is natural that in times of economic crisis, when resources are scarce and all Governments have to implement austerity measures to cope with social obligations and growing deficits, disagreements between political forces become even more acute. All this is part of a normal democratic process. Peaceful and constructive debate is necessary for our societies to move forward.

But disagreements between politicians should not slow down the necessary reforms. European integration is Serbia’s legitimate political priority and key national interest. Therefore, I call on all political forces in the country to work constructively on adopting laws complying with European standards in key reform areas, in order to fulfil all the necessary requirements for obtaining the well-deserved candidate status with the European Union.

Dear colleagues, friends,

Membership in the European Union is Serbia’s desired future. But membership in the Council of Europe is Serbia’s present.

In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the need to complete the implementation of Serbia’s post-accession commitments and statutory obligations to the Council of Europe. One of the key outstanding commitment is, of course, the full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Serbian authorities have already demonstrated their political will to fulfil this commitment and apprehend the two remaining indictees – Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. But political will has to be translated into concrete results. I therefore urge everybody in Serbia to spare no effort in facilitating the search for the remaining indictees. It is in Serbia’s national interests to close this chapter of recent history and move forward.

Dear colleagues,

Co-operation with the ICTY is important. But there are other remaining issues as well. In fact, Serbia’s outstanding commitments and statutory obligations to the Council of Europe are practically identical to the requirements put forward by the European Union. To give but several examples, in its last monitoring report, the Assembly demanded that Serbia should reform its electoral system, amend the rules governing the allocations of seats in Parliament, abolish the system of “party-administered mandates”, strengthen the independence of the judiciary, step up efforts to fight corruption, and further develop minority rights protection mechanisms. In making these recommendations, the Assembly suggested that the Serbian Parliament should develop a concrete Roadmap for completing the remaining reforms.

I know the Assembly co-rapporteurs are working closely with the Serbian delegation to the Assembly on the preparation of the Roadmap and look forward to hearing their assessment of the progress made on this front. I also welcome concrete steps taken by Parliament in order to implement the Assembly recommendations. The drafting of amendments to the Election law is a step in the right direction and I encourage you to co-operate fully with the Venice Commission in order to ensure that these amendments meet the highest European standards. Equally, I encourage you to use fully the Venice Commission’s expertise in the drafting of other laws in key reform areas.

Dear friends, colleagues,

Regional stability is key for the European perspective of the Western Balkans. Not so long ago, this region was the theatre of deadly wars which broke up after the break up of the former Yugoslavia. These wars have been the most tragic events of our recent history. We all have the duty to make sure that similar conflicts do not happen again in future.

In this context, I would like to welcome Serbia’s contribution to the process of reconciliation in the region. The adoption by the National Assembly of the Declaration condemning the Srebrenica massacre is obviously an important step is this process. The recent intensification of the relations with Croatia, as well as the joint visit by Presidents Tadic and Josipovic to Vukovar also represent a very positive example for the region.

President Tadic’s address to the Assembly in January in which he shared with us his personal thoughts and concrete proposals for promoting reconciliation was very much appreciated by the members of the Assembly. I am sure his personal commitment and involvement in this process will help us make further progress.

Strong commitment of political leaders to reconciliation is a key success factor, but it is not the only one. Declarations have to be supported by concrete actions aiming, among others, at resolving the issue of missing persons, promoting effective refugee return and, where appropriate, their local integration, developing a more pluralistic and shared view on the past and recent events. In this respect, I would like to encourage you to implement fully the recommendations of the Assembly contained in the recently adopted resolution on “reconciliation and political dialogue between the countries of the former Yugoslavia”.

Dear colleagues, friends,

Due to its geographic position, economic strength and potential, cultural and historical ties, I believe, Serbia is a key factor for the success of European integration in the Balkans. Serbia must show example and support the neighbours’ efforts to move closer to Europe.

This brings me to sharing with you some thoughts about two specific challenges we are facing in the region.

Firstly, we need to support reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina which is currently lagging behind in the process of European integration. Serbia’s role in this process is crucial.

The Dayton Peace Agreements have brought peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s people and different ethnic communities. The Dayton power-sharing mechanisms based on ethnic lines were instrumental in stabilising the country and restoring people’s confidence.

However, today, sixteen years after the end of the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a new political and institutional model to move forward. Dayton rules have to evolve in order to enable politicians and citizens, from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, develop a shared vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European future.

The constitutional reform necessary to complete Bosnia and Herzegovina’s remaining post-accession commitments should not only bring the constitution in line with the standards of the European Convention of Human Rights and its Additional Protocols. It should also ensure that the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the necessary powers and full capacity to carry out the necessary reforms and bring the benefits of European integration to all Bosnia’s citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin.

Of course, reforms should not be imposed from above. The future constitutional amendments should be based on the work of domestic experts and should meet the widest possible consensus of all political forces in the country. This is why the Assembly is advocating for the setting up of a serious domestic institutionalised process of drafting of constitutional amendments. We are ready to provide political support to this process as well as make available the necessary expertise. I am planning to go to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of this month in order to facilitate discussions between key political stakeholders. But we also count on your help in order to convince politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to support this initiative.

Secondly, the situation in Kosovo is a key challenge for the region as well as for Europe as a whole. As you know, the Council of Europe has adopted a status neutral approach, based on the recognition of the validity of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. In fact, as we said in our previous resolutions, the focus of our attention should not be on the status of Kosovo, but rather on the standards. Kosovo must be a safe place for all those who live in it and a place where our shared standards of democracy, human rights and rule of law are upheld, as anywhere else in Europe. In order to bring Kosovo closer to our standards, the Assembly decided to initiate dialogue with the representatives of the political forces elected to the Kosovo Assembly. Representatives of the Kosovo Assembly are invited to our committee meetings, whenever issues which directly concern Kosovo are discussed. Through this process we can make them more aware of our principles and standards, so that they can use them in their work.

In this context, I have to say that we look very much forward to the starting of the EU-facilitated talks between Belgrade and Pristina. We hope these talks will help find solutions to the problems individuals living in this area have to face, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural or linguistic background. People living in Kosovo are European citizens who must enjoy the same standards of democracy, human rights and rule of law as anybody else living in Europe. We should all work together in order to achieve this goal.

Dear friends,

There are many other issues which are currently high on the agenda of our Assembly. Today, Europe is facing a number of new, massive challenges, such as general rise of extremism, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, the strengthening of our system of protection of human rights, to name but a several. I am looking forward to discussing these issues further with the members of the Serbian delegation in Strasbourg during our part-sessions. The impact of the Assembly’s work greatly depends on the active contribution of all its members. Therefore, I am counting very much on your support and active participation in our work.

At the same time, I would like to wish you every success in your difficult and challenging endeavours and assure you of our Assembly’s full support. Together, we can make European integration a reality for all people living in Serbia and in the region!

Thank you very much for your attention.