Civil society need to take part in negotiating process

BELGRADE - The Serbian Justice Ministry and the negotiating team for EU accession talks called on NGOs to take active part in the negotiations through constructive critique and optimum solutions.

Constructive critique and not criticism is what we need in the process, State Secretary at the Justice Ministry Biljana Pavlovic said during a workshop on involvement of organisations of civilian society in the negotiations on Chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights).

Pavlovic underscored that the right and the obligation of the NGO sector is to point the government bodies to problems and propose potential solutions which are more or less feasible in the given circumstances.

Chief negotiator Tanja Miscevic said that the cooperation between the civil society and government bodies in the process is only natural and bears exceptional importance.

Head of the Political Section of the EU Delegation to Serbia Luca Bianconi said that the role of the civil society is exceptionally important in EU accession due to the significance of the decisions adopted in the process.

The EU will carefully monitor the scope of the contributions by civil society organisations and the degree of respect for their opinions, Bianconi said.

Photo Tanjug Video, camera operator Zoran Milenkovic