State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh spoke about the recent ruling of the Serbian Constitutional Court, which declared some passages of the law on national councils as unconstitutional, and thus curtailed the rights of existing national councils. He urged that a solution should be found for the curtailment of the authority of national councils in Serbia.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday, the Hungarian MFA State Secretary referred to the Serbian Constitutional Court's declaring some passages in the Serbian law on national councils unconstitutional, seen by Hungary as limiting the powers of the Hungarian National Council of Vojvodina. Mr. Németh said it was "especially detrimental" that the court had eliminated the minority councils' right to cooperate with government organisations of their parent nation.

"It is important that Serbia should find a way to restore those curtailed rights through an amendment of the law if necessary," State Secretary Németh said. The European integration process may provide a good opportunity for that, he added. Serbia is beginning its accession negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday. The Hungarian MFA State Secretary said that „a long and complex process” lay ahead of Serbia, and Hungary would support Serbia in that process.

He confirmed that Hungary was ready to provide Serbia with the kind of assistance it had provided to Croatia during the course of Croatia’s accession talks. Mr. Németh said he hoped that a solution could be found for the problem posed by the decision of the Serbian Constitutional Court. He also expressed his hope for finding a solution concerning another issue: that last December the Constitutional Court had declared some parts of the provincial statutes of Vojvodina unconstitutional.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)