On 6-8 June 2023, the Director of Programme Co-ordination of the Council of Europe Claus Neukirch visited Belgrade to meet with representatives of Serbian authorities as well as diplomatic representatives of the Council of Europe member states and international partners. They discussed current and potential future technical co-operation activities implemented by the Council of Europe in Serbia. 

Director Neukirch’ visit included in particular exchanges with the Minister for European Integration, Tanja Miščević; the Minister of Justice, Maja Popović; the Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Tomislav Žigmanov as well as with the State Secretaries of the Ministries of Education and Public Administration and Local Self Government and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Serbian authorities confirmed their commitment to co-operate with the Council of Europe in support of their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards, which is also a priority for Serbia’s EU accession process. 

With the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret, Neukirch exchanged on the partnership in the co-operation field including ongoing joint projects in the area of judicial reform and the third phase of the EU/CoE Horizontal Facility running from 2022-2026.  The Director underlined the importance of addressing cross-cutting issues such as gender mainstreaming, protection of minorities and vulnerable groups and the engagement of civil society organisations for the successful implementation of the Horizontal Facility in Serbia.