CDCS: The Situation in Serbia Causes Great Concerns

06 October 2006

Regarding the general climate in Serbia related to the process of change of Constitution and the final status of Kosovo, the Centre for Development of Civil Society invited the Government to take the appropriate legal and administrative measures and to make the necessary personnel changes against creators and distributors of anti-minority and anti-Albanian sentiments in Serbia.

CDCS demands from the political parties to respect the equality of citizens in front of the Law, and from the international and non-governmental organizations to direct their attention to the status of minorities in Serbia.

CDCS expressed its �...serious concerns regarding the actions and behaviour of Serbian Government and the public services and offiece it controls...� and warned of the �...increased spread of anti-Albanian sentiments in the public, orchestrated mobilization of public opinion on ethno-nationalist grounds and segregation of citizens along ethnic lines�.

CDCS warns that the general atmosphere in Serbia slowly begins to remind of the atmosphere prevailing in Serbia immediately before the start of the civil war in former Yugoslavia.

CDCS emphasizes the visible absence of awareness of the possible consequences of the current behaviour of a number of public figures, regarding the status and position of national and religious minorities in Serbia in the coming stages of the process of finding solution to the status of Kosovo.