The primary purpose of the visit was to meet with the representatives of the Slovenian community to discuss the setting up of the National Council of the Slovene Minority in Serbia. The meeting was held on 4 March at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Belgrade (VBG) and was attended by representatives of all thirteen Slovene cultural societies active in Serbia.

A National Council is a body (a legal entity) that represents an individual national minority (it is therefore not an association of societies, and the body does not represent only societies or their members) and acts as a partner on its behalf in a dialogue with the Serbian authorities at all levels and regarding all issues that concern the minority. It is also a holder of certain collective minority entitlements. By establishing the National Council, the minority is, thus, de jure, since this body represents the minority in a dialogue with the Serbian authorities at all levels (local, national) in the fields of all issues concerning the minority (language, education, information, culture). It is financed from the Serbian national budget. The operation of the National Council is governed by the Act on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities (Zakon o zaštiti prava i sloboda nacionalnih manjina) of 2002, and the Act on National Minority Councils (Zakon o nacionalnim savetima nacionalnih manjina), which has been in force since 11 September 2009.

The National Council can be established by direct election, or indirectly elected by designated 'electors' at an electoral assembly. Primarily, it is established through direct elections, but the condition that a certain number of minority members voluntarily register into a special electoral roll must be met. In the case of the Slovene minority (based on the number of minority members according to the latest survey and a special formula that determines an entry quorum for the implementation of direct elections), a minimum of 2042 persons with voting rights should register for a special electoral roll in the Republic of Serbia if they have declared themselves as members of the Slovene minority. The registration procedure for special electoral rolls ends today, 8 March 2010. During the next few days we will find out whether an adequate number of people have registered allowing for direct elections to be held, which, in this case, would happen in the next few months.

If an insufficient number of members of the Slovene minority have registered for special electoral rolls, the Slovenians will try to set up the National Council in Serbia indirectly, through electoral assembly. If the National Council is to be established through electoral assembly, the Slovene minority needs to collect a substantial number of certified signatures from its members (100 signatures or votes have to be collected for each elector; while a minimum of 20 electors have to participate in the electoral assembly, which means that a minimum of 2000 certified votes must be collected). At the meeting on 4 March, an agreement was reached regarding how the societies will organise the collection of votes for electors should the minority fail to meet the conditions for direct elections.

Let us mention that by Spring 2009 (after several years of efforts, which were significantly sped up by the Office's commitment in 2008), the Slovene minority succeeded in meeting the conditions and collecting a sufficient number of signatures, which enabled them to hand in the application that allowed them to convene the electoral assembly in accordance with the legislation in force at the time. Unfortunately, the relevant legislation in Serbia changed precisely during this time (the new law was adopted at the end of August 2009), which resulted in the termination of the procedures that were already under way. Consequently, the entire process will have to be carried out again in compliance with the new legislation.

On 5 March, Jesih visited the Slovene societies in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The State Secretary also visited new possible facilities for the “Sava” Slovenian Association, Belgrade (Društvo Slovencev »Sava« Beograd), situated at a prestigious location on Terazije. It has been agreed that the “Sava" Association will present the financial structure to the Government's Office, and the Office will, taking all the circumstances into account, decide on possible co-financing.

Government of the Republic of Slovenia