Congress President pays official visit to the Republic of Serbia
Strasbourg, 16.01.2017 – At the invitation of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, paid an official visit to Belgrade, Novi Sad and Indija in the Republic of Serbia from 11 to 14 January 2017, accompanied by the Secretary General of the Congress Andreas Kiefer. On 12 January, they held high-level meetings with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić, with Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Ana Brnabić and with the Mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali. The discussions focused in particular on the on-going reforms of local self-government and the decentralisation strategy, both projects implemented with the support of the Council of Europe and the Congress, as well as on the future ratification of the additional protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government. These meetings were also the occasion to mark the 60th birthday of the Congress as successor of the Conference of Local Authorities which met for the first time on 12 January 1957. The Congress President also met the Serbian delegation to the Congress and had a very lively discussion at the Faculty of Law of the University of Belgrade.
On 13 January, the President of the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Igor Mirović, and several members of the government informed the Congress President and Secretary General about the policies implemented in the field of protection of minorities, gender equality and citizen's participation in this autonomous Northern Serbian territory. Discussions in Novi Sad and Inđija with mayors Milos Vučević and Vladimir Gak and members of the respective city councils completed the picture of an innovative, modern and citizen-oriented region. The official visit ended on 14 January with an exchange with members of the board and the management of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) about innovation of local administration and governance in Serbia and the Balkans.
These meetings with stakeholders provide an excellent opportunity to discover innovative projects in local governance and contribute to the sharing of experience within the platform of exchange that the Congress represents.
See also information published on Serbian Media websites:
http://www.mfa.gov.rs/…/saopsten…/17579-2017-01-12-15-16-58…