Written answers

Tuesday, 22 March 2005

Department of Foreign Affairs

Human Rights Abuses

8:00 pm

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 215: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will raise the recent attacks on ethnic Hungarians in the Serbian province of Vojvodina at EU and UN level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8547/05]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Ethnic Hungarians form the largest minority community in Vojvodina, which is an autonomous province of Serbia. It is estimated that some 15% of the total population of 2 million is of ethnic Hungarian background. Vojvodina is an ethnically mixed province, which historically has had a Serb majority. In recent years, however, the size of the ethnic Serb population has increased due to the arrival of large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons from the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.

Political instability since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, aggravated by refugee problems and economic stagnation, has resulted in a general rise in inter-ethnic tensions in Vojvodina. These were particularly evident during the campaigns for parliamentary, presidential and local elections in Serbia in 2003 and 2004. There was a rise in the number of incidents of intimidation of members of the ethnic Hungarian population, and of several other minority communities, including Croats and Slovaks. This intimidation included a number of serious violent incidents.

The situation in Vojvodina has been monitored by the EU, through member states' embassies in Belgrade and in Budapest, and the EU monitoring mission in Serbia. The Foreign Minister of Hungary drew attention to the violent incidents in the area at the meeting of the External Relations Council in Brussels on 13 September 2004, and the Council reviewed the situation at the meeting I attended in Luxembourg on 11 October 2004. The Council welcomed the commitment given by the Government of Serbia to intensify dialogue with all ethnic communities, and agreed that the EU would continue to monitor the situation. The EU is also providing assistance for the promotion of inter-ethnic relations and for the strengthening of the media in Vojvodina and throughout Serbia.

The primary responsibility for action to end violence and intimidation lies with the authorities in Serbia. I welcome the personal involvement, to promote inter-ethnic dialogue, by President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica. The most significant step was the establishment on 17 September 2004 of a national council for minorities, which brings together the Prime Minister, leaders of the ethnic minority communities and relevant Government Ministries. The number of inter-ethnic incidents has fallen sharply since the end of the local election campaign last October. The EU is continuing to monitor developments.

The EU has given a commitment that the future of Serbia and Montenegro and of the other countries of the western Balkans lies in integration into European structures. The EU will continue to work with the authorities in Belgrade to encourage the implementation of the wide-ranging political, administrative and economic reforms required for progress in the development of a closer institutional relationship with the Union. The political upheavals of recent years have resulted in slower progress by Serbia in the development of its relations with the EU than by some of its neighbours. I expect that the Commission will soon finalise its feasibility study on the prospects for negotiating a stabilisation and association agreement with Serbia and Montenegro. The assessment of the human rights situation, including the protection of the security and the rights of minority communities, will form a central element in the decision which the Council will then make on whether negotiations should begin with Serbia and Montenegro.

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