28/04/2009 Session
Strasbourg, 28.04.2009 – Despite a period of turbulent transformation and several challenges, Serbia is “moving forward and making progress on the road to European integration”, according to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
In a resolution adopted today, the Assembly called on Serbia to prepare a “roadmap” of concrete actions to reform its democratic institutions – especially the parliament – improve human rights and reinforce the rule of law. This would “prepare the way” for closing the Assembly’s monitoring procedure, the parliamentarians said.
Among other things, the Assembly said opposition parties should “adopt a constructive attitude in the parliamentary arena”, while majority parties should engage in meaningful dialogue with the opposition. The practice of party-administered mandates should be ended.
Debating the report by Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), the Assembly said it “understands the frustration of the Serbian people” over developments in Kosovo, and welcomed the fact that the authorities were defending their position with peaceful and diplomatic means.