Serbian parliament passes declaration on rights and joint future of Serbs

BELGRADE - Serbian MPs adopted on Wednesday a Declaration on Protection of the National and Political Rights and the Joint Future of the Serbs.

One hundred and thirty-nine MPs voted for the declaration, nine voted against, there were no abstentions and six MPs took no part in the vote.

At a June 8 All-Serbian Assembly in Belgrade, the governments of Serbia and Republika Srpska adopted a draft of the Declaration.

The Declaration notes that the Serbian nation represents a single whole and that Kosovo-Metohija is an unalienable part of the Republic of Serbia - one of the defining aspects of the Serbs' national identity - and that the Assembly does not support a UNGA resolution on Srebrenica.

The Declaration contains 49 conclusions, stances and objectives coordinated by the All-Serbian Assembly of Serbia and Srpska in good faith and with a view to preserving peace, stability and the national and religious identity as well as to stepping up and deepening the cooperation and mutual protection.

The Assembly rejected various imposed prefixes to the noun "Serbs", noting that, wherever they may live, members of the Serbian nation have the right to call themselves Serbs.

It concluded that it will meet biennially and that it expects full implementation of the process of national reconciliation and overcoming historical divisions within the Serbian nation.

It recommended that institutions of the Republic of Serbia and Srpska act in a united and coordinated manner to invest efforts to stop the assimilation of Serbs in countries of the region as well as around the world.

It also stressed that Republika Srpska is a single and indivisible subject of constitutional law that performs its constitutional, legislative, executive and judicial functions independently in accordance with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution - Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that its territory cannot be alienated in a manner not in accordance with the Constitution of Republika Srpska and its laws.

The document also says the Assembly supports the efforts of the Republic of Serbia to preserve its territorial integrity and sovereignty, guaranteed by international law and UNSCR1244 and other UNSC resolutions, as well as the right and the duty of the Republic of Serbia to commit to the survival of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.

The document was also passed by the Republika Srpska National Assembly on July 3.