Building Confidence

A regional conference including all the participants in "Legislation and Citizens", a project whose provider in Serbia is the European Movement, was held in Sofia from December 5 to 7, 2002

INITIATIVE: The Serbian delegation made use of its participation in the Sofia Conference to agree on a visit by a team of parliamentary delegates and non-government organizations to Tirana

EUROPE Plus

Legislation and Citizens is a project of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe within the framework of EWPPP - the East-West Parliamentary Practice Project, and includes seven countries in the Balkan region (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Macedonia and Bulgaria). The European Movement in Serbia, as the project guarantor in this country, formed a delegation which, apart from EMinS representatives, also included members of partner organizations (the Center for Policy Studies, the Yugoslav Lawyers' Committee), delegates to the Serbian National Assembly (DS, DC, SD) and Federal Constitutional Court judge Aleksandar Simić.

The basic goal of the project is to strengthen confidence between parliament and the civil society, and this conference was an occasion for representatives of the nations participating in the project to outline the current situation in their country. Civil society was represented via the network of non-government organizations, which should, at least for purposes of this project, act as an equal partner in parliamentary activities in each country.

The wider context of the project may be interpreted with reference to the guiding principle of the Stability Pact, namely, that the Balkan region should be stabilized by means of various integration processes (military and security aspects, the fight against organized crime and corruption), as well as a strengthening of basic democratic institutions in society. The goal of the Sofia Conference was to evaluate the results achieved so far.

A summary of project results was presented by Stevan Lilić, on behalf of delegates to the Serbian National Assembly, and Dragan Lakićević, on behalf of non-government organizations. Lilić pointed out the specificity of Serbia's political situation, in particular the fact that the National Assembly had not been performing its function for several months due to certain obstructions, as well as the holding of presidential elections - factors which were reflected to a great degree in the fulfillment of project goals as well.

Lakićević read a report on current cooperation among non-government organizations in implementing this project, showing it to be successful and mutually beneficial. Up to the present, the Serbian NGO network has organized three public discussions in connection with the draft Law on Free Access to Public Information, a legislative proposal whose authors are experts from these very organizations. This draft, following its entry into legislative procedure in the Assembly, will continue to be a focus of interest for our expert team - something which is an integral part of the entire project.

As far as cooperation with parliamentary representatives is concerned, Lakićević pointed out that it is essential to expand the Local Consultative Committee (made up of parliamentary delegates) to include new members who would have adequate time and understanding for cooperation of this nature.

In the course of the conference's proceedings it emerged that many issues of vital interest to democratic processes in the Balkan countries - the fight against autocratic behavior by the government, the battle against corruption and crime, inadequate involvement by the media in supervising government, and so on - have, unfortunately, remained beyond the reach of this project.

The organizers of the project, as well as the experts who led the conference, focused on the central theme of the project - strengthening civil society through parliamentary control – thereby revealing a lack of awareness of the essential processes in this region. Regardless of these shortcomings, they showed good will

for further cooperation and mediation aimed at improving contact between parliaments and NGOs in the region.

The Serbian delegation made use of its participation in the Sofia Conference to reach agreement on a visit by a team of Serbian parliamentary delegates and non-government organizations to Tirana, as the Albanian side had informally proposed at an earlier date. The team, made up of seven members of the Serbian Assembly and five representatives from non-government organizations, will pay a working visit to the Albanian Parliament next spring - yet another stimulus provided by the European Movement in Serbia and its partner NGOs to Serbia's diplomats and parliamentary delegates in speeding up the process of cooperation in the region.

Moreover, a proposal by the Albanian Foreign Minister to his counterpart in Belgrade was announced in Sofia, aimed at removing visa requirements between Yugoslavia and Albania, as well as completely opening their borders for commerce in goods and services. This interesting proposal deserves our country's full attention.

This may be a way for the countries of the Balkans to free themselves of xenophobia and accumulated hatred - at least for the generations to come.