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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Drafting new constitution enters final phase

Belgrade, 28 September 2006

Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Zoran Loncar said today that all relevant political factors involved in the drafting of the Serbian new constitution have made maximum effort to finalise the text of the new constitution and are fully cooperative.

Zoran Loncar at today's press conference

Loncar told a press conference after the government session that Serbia may get a new constitution shortly should the level of political awareness and maturity of those involved in the process of its drafting remain the same.

According to Loncar, both political and professional public figures as well as Serbia’s citizens are acquaintaned with certain constitutional institutes that are contained in parts of the draft.

He recalled that the drafting process started on March 30, 2004, when parliament passed a Decision on starting to form the new constitution.

The Minister expressed expectation that several remaining constitutional institutes will be harmonised soon with a view to address the top state and national interest, that is, Kosovo-Metohija.

Loncar reiterated that Kosovo-Metohija must be protected through consistent support of international law as well as through enforcement of domestic law, that is, a new constitution.

He said that the government expects that the future status of Kosovo-Metohija will be fully regulated in accordance with international principles applied for all countries, and thus also for Serbia and its integral part Kosovo-Metohija.

Apart from citing international principles, Serbia is entitled to protect its own national and state interest through the country’s principal legal act, said Loncar.

He voiced hope that the constitution will be adopted in Serbian parliament and confirmed by citizens with a majority vote in the referendum. This will be the voice of Serbian citizens on what they think about the future status of Kosovo-Metohija, he explained.

At the same time, the constitution will be the opportunity for Serbia to become a modern, well-organised and democratic state, which is one of the preconditions for starting the EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) talks, Loncar added.