Leo van Doesburg

On the 27th of April, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted, by 44 votes to 19, a report   on the protection of the "The protection of the rights of parents and children belonging to religious minorities" . The rapporteur for this report  was ECPM Member Valeriu Ghiletchi (MP, Moldova) . The report calls on Council of Europe (CoE) Member States to protect religious freedoms in each country and to respect the right of parents to raise their children according to their religious beliefs.

The second Conscience and Freedom Award Gala took place in Timisoara, Romania, on the 3 rd of December 2011. The event is organized by the Conscience and Freedom Association in collaboration with the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Religious Affairs and National Minorities, and aims to honor individuals who have espoused, established, defended and promoted the cause of freedom of religion and conscience throughout Romania. Recipients of the Conscience and Freedom Award include politicians, academics, activists, writers, religious leaders, diplomats, scholars and other individuals with inspiring stories, who were involved in defending and promoting religious freedom and conscience through their activities, writings, legislative initiatives or acts of courage. 

On 29 October, ECPM organized an important event in the Festive Room of the Vrsac City Hall in Voivodina (Serbia) together with the Alliance of Romanians in Voivodina and the National Council of the Romanian Minorities in Voivodina. Representatives of different communities that are living in the Voivodina province came together to discuss about ways for collaboration with each other and with the central government in order to promote the accession of Serbia into the European Union. The conference was attended by members of National Councils and representatives from the Croatian, Hungarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Rusynean, and Slovak communities in Voivodina, Besides the meeting was attended by the Provincial Secretary of Voivodina for Education, Self-Government and National Communities, A deputy from the parliament of Voivodina, vice President of the Vrsac community, and the local executive (and member of the community council of Vrsac) for minorities and religious affairs.

First of all I would like to say that I am honored and it is a pleasure to be at this important conference about “The positive-active role of Vojvodina-Serbian minorities in the Serbian EU integration process”.  It is great that the conference is taking place in the beautiful city of the “little top”, in Vrsac. The chosen theme is a very important and relevant one. Therefore let's split the title “The positive-active role of Vojvodina Serbian minorities in the Serbian EU integration process” in three parts, followed by a conclusion with some recommendations.