The Council of Europe’s bodies, conventions and monitoring mechanisms provide excellent support to Member States by facilitating international cooperation and the exchange of best practices in promoting equality and diversity. The Council of Europe office in Belgrade is an excellent example and can proudly look back on 20 years of dedicated work.

This was highlighted in today’s event on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Council of Europe office in Belgrade.

Nadia Ćuk, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of the holistic approach to achieve equality: “Building a tolerant, inclusive and resilient society based on the principle of non-discrimination requires a holistic approach. In its numerous and varied cooperation programs implemented in Serbia over the past 20 years, the Council of Europe has continued to focus on promoting diversity and equality to help the country advance its reform agenda in the areas of human rights, rule of law and Democracy in line with European standards. “

Ivica Dačić, spokesman for the National Assembly of Serbia, congratulated the office on two decades of successful work. “The office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade is one of the institutions without whose support we could not have achieved the democratic development of our country. Serbia is a much better country today than it was 20 years ago. Numerous judicial and parliamentary support projects, implemented in collaboration with civil society, helped create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect for diversity, ”said the spokesman.

In the video message, Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe in the Foreign Office and Special Representative of the Federal Government for the German Presidency in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, emphasized that the organs of the Council of Europe, its conventions and monitoring mechanisms offer the member states excellent support by promoting international cooperation and facilitate the exchange of best practices in promoting equality and diversity. May 2021 is European Diversity Month – let’s work together to create equitable and inclusive environments. Right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, where diversity and inclusion are at risk, ”concluded Mr Roth.

Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, emphasized: “The strategic goal of the Council of Europe in the area of ​​anti-discrimination, diversity and inclusion is to guarantee real equality and unrestricted access to rights and opportunities for everyone and everywhere”. to Serbia, at any time and under all circumstances, as an individual and as a member of a certain group. Our Belgrade office will continue to support the government, parliament, civil society, social and economic actors, the education sector, the media and everyone else in achieving this goal together. There can be no real European unity without human and minority rights, democracy and the rule of law. “

“20 years of work by the Council of Europe office in Belgrade will also be shaped by a coincidence that shows our commitment to the values ​​of the Council of Europe of all of us – in the small hall of the Serbian National Assembly we are celebrating this anniversary, while at the same time in the main hall of the assembly we are celebrating the anti-discrimination laws discussed ”, said Gordana Čomić, Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue. She also stated that “People are different and are legally required to treat people equally and to accept diversity as we all have human rights”.

In addition to the lecture “Human and Minority Rights Protection: Perspectives and Challenges to Multiple Diversity Governance in Europe and the Balkans” by Prof. Dr and Equal Rights in Serbia. Members of the Serbian National Assembly, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, representatives of civil society organizations and the National Council of Roma in Serbia exchanged views on how to proceed in the field of equality and diversity in Serbia.

In addition to the 20th anniversary of the office, this event also marked the end of the German presidency in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. HEMr Thomas Schieb, Germany’s ambassador to Serbia, emphasized that non-discrimination and the fight against hate speech were among the priorities during the German presidency of the Committee of Ministers. “We chose this focus because minorities are often confronted with exclusion and discrimination because of their nationality, skin color, religion, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, social status or disability. That is not acceptable. We must work together to change that, ”he concluded.

HEMr Attila Pinter, Ambassador of Hungary to Serbia, outlined the focus of the upcoming Hungarian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (May-November 2021) on the topics of minorities, youth policy, cybercrime and artificial intelligence, environmental protection and dialogue between the regions.

The symposium “Promoting Equality and Diversity in Serbia: 20 years of Cooperation for multiple Diversity Governance” was organized by the Office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade in cooperation with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, supported by the National Assembly of Serbia and the Embassy the Federal Republic of Germany.

It highlighted Serbia’s efforts to promote equality and diversity based on the standards of the Council of Europe and sensitized Serbian authorities and civil society as well as international community partners to the governance of diversity in Europe.

Symposium agenda

For more information, please contact:

Mona Alghaith, email: mona.alghaith@coe.int; Mob. +381 63 365 751

Article by Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, published in the daily newspaper “Danas”

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a body of the Council of Europe, recently published its new annual report assessing the main challenges and trends in the fight against discrimination in Europe over the past year. One key conclusion: 2020, with the global health crisis, has exacerbated existing inequalities and highlighted the need for governments to step up efforts to combat intolerance and discrimination. “The Covid-19 crisis has exposed and deepened the underlying structural inequalities in almost all policy areas, including access to education, employment, housing and health care,” said Maria Daniella Marouda, Chair of ECRI.

Therefore, I welcome that strengthening the legal framework to prevent and sanction discrimination has become a priority for the Serbian government in 2021. The Council of Europe supports these efforts, in particular by providing expert advice to the Serbian authorities on the draft laws. Gordana Comic, Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, makes a wide range of proposals. The Council of Europe accepted her invitation in recent weeks to take part in meetings of the social dialogue on gender equality, anti-discrimination and same-sex partnerships.

This welcome development is based on many years of cooperation. ECRI through its monitoring work and guidance supported Serbia in its anti-discrimination efforts for years. In September 2019 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of ECRI with a high-level international conference on “Combating intolerance and promoting equality” in Belgrade. The conference helped pave the way for today’s ambitious reform agenda.

European Convention on Human Rights

For the Council of Europe, the principle of non-discrimination is fundamental. The principle is anchored in the European Convention on Human Rights together with the rule of law, the values ​​of tolerance and social peace. Last year we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Convention. As early as 1949, only a few would have imagined how far-reaching the effects of Article 14 of the European Convention would be: “The exercise of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention should be without discrimination on grounds such as gender, race, skin color, language, religion, political or different opinion, national or social origin, connection with a national minority, property, birth or other status. “As the case law of the European Court of Human Rights evolved over the decades, the term“ other status ”encompassed age, gender identity, sexual orientation, health and disability, parental and marital status, and immigrant status as a status related to employment.

This protection against discrimination has been completed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 of the Convention, which prohibits discrimination in general under the exercise of a right established by law. Protocol No. 12 was signed in 2000. The protocol laid the foundation for a comprehensive approach to anti-discrimination that has since been pursued by the member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union. For this reason, the EU and the Council of Europe jointly promote diversity and equality through the joint Horizontal Facility program. Serbia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 2003 and Protocol No. 12 in 2005.

Anti-discrimination law in Serbia

Serbia started adopting and implementing a new generation of anti-discrimination laws more than a decade ago. In doing so, attempts were made to use the guidelines of various monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe and to implement recommendations – not only from ECRI, but also from the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Committee of the Monitoring Body for Social Rights and the Istanbul Convention (GREVIO) as well as intergovernmental standardization bodies like the new Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI). We assume that these country-specific and general recommendations, together with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, will now be incorporated and implemented in the revised Anti-Discrimination Act and the Laws on Same-Sex Partnerships.

Key principles

When drafting laws and guidelines in Serbia, three basic principles must be taken into account. First, discrimination is more than a theoretical concept. Combating discrimination is not a question of ideology, but of the real life of real people who suffer from it. Ensuring equality and respect for persons belonging to national minorities, including Roma; people affected by disabilities; Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual; Socially marginalized people who have difficulties accessing their political, economic, social and cultural rights: Everyone should be able to enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms safely, consistently and without restrictions.

Second, we are all responsible for our common space and wellbeing. Racist and ultra-nationalist hate speech and hate crime must stop. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a landmark report by Elvira Kovacs on the role and responsibility of political leaders in combating hate speech and intolerance. The speed denounced them Boom in hate speech of politicians, This leads to xenophobia, racial hatred, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and intolerance and is particularly aimed at minorities, immigrants, women and LGBTI people. These questions concern our shared public, social and media spaces. For this reason we started the joint campaign Block the Hatred, Share the Love together with the European Union. I invite you to join us with personalities like singer Sara Jo, who has volunteered for BHSL ambassadors across the Western Balkans.

Third, structures, enforcement, jurisdiction, sanctions and resources play a crucial role in the fight against discrimination. For example, equality and human rights organizations need to be empowered. They must be vigilant early warning sensors, loud advocates and strong allies of the human rights defender community. We encourage all bodies involved in the fight against discrimination in Serbia to be continuously, critically and openly involved and to engage in dialogue. In addition, all branches of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary – must provide the necessary resources and work together to achieve the common goal of real equality and diversity for all people living in Serbia.

Article in Serbian published in “Danas”

The Protector of Citizens met with representatives of the Duga Association from Sabac to agree to start the joint implementation of activities to support local self-government units to include measures to improve the status of LGBTI people in local action plans. This activity is part of the technical expertise of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” joint program to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to mainstream LGBTI rights into local policy documents and through law so that they comply with the recommendations of the Protector of Citizens (Ombudsperson).

The activities will be in line with the recommendation of the Protector of Citizens in its regular annual report for 2017 and then reiterated in the reports for 2018 and 2019 that local government agencies should explicitly include LGBTI persons in local action plans and prescribe measures regarding the status of these persons and make appropriate budgetary resources available for these activities.

In addition, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) stated in its 2017 Monitoring Report on Serbia that “the authorities should put a special focus on improving the personal safety of LGBT people” and in particular “should create a safe environment in giving young LGBT people the information, support and protection they need during the particularly difficult phase of their exit ”(paragraph 102). ECRI also reported that “Statistics show that a significant amount of discrimination against LGBT people is perpetrated by civil servants” (paragraph 103) and regretted that “Civil servants do not always contribute to the strategy’s goal of establishing a culture of tolerance towards LGBT people to promote”. (Clause 104). In the light of these findings, ECRI recommended that “the authorities create a safe environment for LGBT people to continue and develop LGBT training for civil servants” (paragraph 105).

This activity is carried out as part of the action “Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Serbia” within the framework of the joint program “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” between the European Union and the Council of Europe.