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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Borislav Stefanovic to head Serbian team in talks with Pristina

Belgrade, 21 January 2011

Minister for Diaspora Srdjan Sreckovic said that political director of the Ministry of the Interior Borislav Stefanovic will be head of the Serbian negotiating team in talks with the provisional self-government institutions in Pristina.

At a press conference following a government session Sreckovic said that Stefanovic’s deputy on the team will be Vladan Jovicic from the Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija.

A Conclusion, which the government adopted today and which revokes the secrecy label from a portion of the Conclusion on the formation of a negotiating team in the upcoming talks with Pristina, has enabled the government to announce the names of team leaders, Sreckovic explained.

At the proposal of the Ministry of Justice, the government also passed a Conclusion regarding the reimbursement of the Nastic family’s defence expenses before the competent courts in the United States. He told a news conference that the government decided to provide $20,000 for authorised legal representatives of the Nastic family, in connection with judicial proceedings conducted in the United States because of the revocation of custody of their minor children.

Such a decision is in accordance with Article 13 of the Serbian Constitution, which stipulates that the state protects the rights and interests of its citizens abroad, he said noting that Serbia is respecting the US legal system.

Speaking about the adoption of a National strategy of preserving and strengthening relations between the homeland and diaspora and the homeland and the Serbs in the region, he said that together with the EU integration Serbia should unite the potential from diaspora and use it for the purposes of internal and foreign policy and economic development of our country.

This also implies work on the achievement of historic reconciliation of different parts of one and the same people, he added.

All measures the state will implement in the future will be based on the principle of partnership with Serbs in the diaspora, he said, noting that the strategy adopted today rounds up the institutional framework of the policy towards the diaspora.

The state will continue to advocate the protection of rights of Serbs in countries in the region with the goal of enabling them the same level of protection which those national minorities have in Serbia.

Sreckovic explained that the strategy prescribes Serbia’s position as a homeland, as well as systematic, organised and joint activities of Serbia, the diaspora and Serbs in the region aimed at boosting Serbia’s image.

The document defines better exploitation of the capacity of the diaspora and Serbs in the region to encourage Serbia’s economic development by strengthening its scientific, technological, cultural, educational and sport potential.

It envisages intense work on the preservation of the national identity of the Serbian people in the world, he observed, adding that Serbs in the diaspora and the region should be loyal citizens of countries they live in and with the help of their homeland and the EU they should exercise their rights.