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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Constitutional changes of great importance for rule of law

Belgrade, 22 December 2021

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic talked today with representatives of the National Convention on the European Union about further steps of Serbia within European integration, changes to the Constitution and the referendum scheduled for 16 January.

At the beginning of the meeting, Brnabic said that the members of the Working Group of the Convention for Chapter 23, which deals with justice and the rule of law, informed her in a letter yesterday that they would not participate in the meeting.

This is an essential and most important topic for the rule of law, for European integration, there is nothing more important than this and I have no understanding for not appearing at the talks about it, the Prime Minister emphasised and added that it is not a political issue.

The members of the Working Group explained their absence by saying that talking to the Prime Minister and other government officials would jeopardise the credibility and legitimacy of the referendum process.

The Prime Minister, emphasising that the independence of the judiciary is a condition of all conditions for the rule of law, pointed out that she does not understand such actions.

The Prime Minister reminded that the constitutional amendments are prepared in cooperation with civil societies and the government, as well as that several rounds of consultations were held with the Venice Commission, after which two-thirds support was received in the Serbian Parliament.

Coordinator of the National Convention for the EU Natasa Dragojlovic pointed out that the Convention invites citizens to go to the referendum in as many numbers as possible, and the media, especially the public service, to inform citizens exactly what it is about, because, as she stated, only about 8% of the citizens know what this is about.

The change of the Constitution is important, the referendum is important, but that is only one part of the Action Plan for Chapter 23, Dragojlovic added.