Protection of human rights, a democratic and inclusive society, guaranteed freedom of media and speech, as well as independent and strong justice system need to remain priorities of the Serbian authorities and their partners, despite a challenging environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to continuous efforts of Serbian authorities towards alignment with European standards and essential support of their partners - the European Union and the Council of Europe, the second phase of the programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” will keep addressing the issues in these areas, while adapting to the current epidemiological circumstances. This has been underlined in today’s second meeting of the Beneficiary Steering Committee of the joint EU/CoE programme.
Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade underlined an important role played by all the beneficiary institutions, partners and civil society actors in implementation of the programme. “I would like to thank to Serbian authorities and the European Union for the excellent co-operation developed over the years. The Council of Europe Office in Belgrade marks its 20th anniversary this year and strong partnerships built over the two decades have enabled us to keep achieving tangible results last year, despite challenging environment”, he concluded.
Jadranka Joksimović, Minister of European Integration of Serbia, said that the rule of law reform represents one of the most important matters for Serbia and its citizens. "The support programme of the Council of Europe and the European Union provides the essential expertise necessary for the reform of judiciary and the rule of law, for the fight against human trafficking and discrimination and protection of vulnerable groups, as well as for high standards when it comes to freedom of media and speech. With our European partners, we strive towards the common goal, which is the EU membership for Serbia, as a democratic, sustainably developed and efficient state", Joksimović emphasised.
Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia agreed that strengthening rule of law and human rights is a priority for ensuring better life of citizens in Serbia. “The EU is working with all relevant Serbian stakeholders and international partners. The co-operation with Council of Europe is extremely important, particularly through the Horizontal Facility, to help drafting better legislation, train more law enforcement forces, as well as prosecutors and judges, and ensure better protection of the victims of crime”, said Ambassador Fabrizi.
Pilar Morales, Head of the Programming Department at the Office of the Directorate General of Programmes of the Council of Europe reiterated the commitment of the Council of Europe, together with the European Union, to keep supporting Serbia in its reform processes. “The flexibility of the Horizontal Facility allowed for concrete adaptation measures taken while upholding its main objectives: supporting authorities in ensuring better protection of the rights of Serbian citizens, in line with the European standards, especially in challenging times”, she concluded.
Gordana Čomić, Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue of Serbia said that, more than ever before, people today need the ideas which laid the foundations of the Council of Europe. “Peace among the people, dialogue, human rights and new solidarity are the only things that will lead us out of this global pandemic with more compassion and humanity and less injustice and inequality. We owe it to the upcoming generations," she concluded.
“The Ministry of Justice has made significant progress in the reform agenda of the Republic of Serbia, showing that the joint support of the Council of Europe and the European Union throughout the programme "Horizontal Facility" in the past period is indisputably important on our path to full membership in the EU”, said Jelena Deretić, Assistant Minister of Justice of Serbia, underlining some of the programme’s goals in the judiciary field. “EU/CoE programme addresses the shortcomings of the judiciary in Serbia in the field of ethics and integrity, offers undoubted support in the process of strengthening the rule of law and creates a solid foundation for further improvement of the Serbian legislative framework”, Popović concluded.
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The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility II” was created as a co-operation initiative to assist Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with the European standards.
Notable results were achieved during its second year of implementation, despite the effect that COVID-19 pandemic had on the implementation of the activities.
In the field of strengthening independence and accountability of the judiciary, important work was devoted to prevent undue influence on individual judges and the judiciary as a whole. Given that the use of digital space increased significantly during the pandemic, the programme also initiated the development of guidelines for the ethical use of social networks for judges and public prosecutors. The process of execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Serbia was enhanced through this programme, and the first draft of the Strategy for further development of the system of enforcement of criminal sanctions 2021-2027 has been prepared. This document puts special emphasis on the protection of vulnerable groups such as minors, women, the elderly, and people with mental disabilities.
When it comes to the freedom of expression and the media, key contribution was provided in educating judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police officers and strengthening their capacity to protect and guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of the media, in line with European standards, with a special focus on the safety of journalists. Important work was also devoted to accessibility of media content for people with disabilities, media literacy and pluralism.
The initiatives in fighting discrimination included the promotion of diversity and equality in Serbia, through support to the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality regarding monitoring hate speech in the media and providing expertise aimed at strengthening the capacity of local authorities to include LGBTI rights in their policies and bylaws. When it comes to the prevention and fight against human trafficking in Serbia, the programme contributed to the education of various groups of professionals (judges, prosecutors, law students, labor inspectors, educational advisors) and strengthening their capacity to recognise trafficking, provide assistance and protection to victims. In order to ensure quality education for all, the programme has focused on training for educators from all 60 Serbian schools participating in the programme, as well as on the exchange among students from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
