Improving Minority Rights in Serbia: Key Challenges and Opportunities

The conference titled "Realization of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities in Serbia: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Policies and Practices" has marked the concluding phase of the “Minority Protection for EU Accession” (MPA) project, a joint initiative led by the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Launched in January 2023, the project runs through June 2025 and is part of the broader initiative co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue. 

As Serbia continues its path toward European Union membership, the effective protection of national minority rights remains a key requirement under Chapter 23, which addresses fundamental rights and the judiciary. While Serbia has developed a comprehensive legal framework in this area, implementation challenges persist—particularly in translating policies into action at the local level and ensuring coherence across institutions.

The final conference served as a platform for exchanging and summarizing experiences of the key stakeholders and actors engaged in the processes aimed at enhancing the capacity of institutions involved in the protection of minority rights. Key activities have included the development of a monitoring and reporting system for the Action Plan on National Minorities, institutional support to national minority councils and interethnic relations councils, as well as training and awareness-raising for public administration employees throughout the country. Over the course of the project, numerous workshops, training sessions, and roundtables were organized in various cities across Serbia, accompanied by targeted publications aimed at strengthening knowledge and practice in minority rights protection. The project’s key findings and policy recommendations were presented at the conference – the study “National minority symbols and holidays: comparative European perspectives” and the “Reporting Methodology Toolkit” for the reporting on the Implementation of the Action Plan for the Realization of the Rights of National Minorities, while also exploring future avenues for reinforcing institutional mechanisms and sharing insights and good practices from the context of minority policies of the Germany and German Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein.

The event offered a valuable opportunity for dialogue among policymakers, civil society actors, and international partners on how to advance a political and institutional culture that embraces diversity and promotes equal participation for all citizens in Serbia.