News:
September 11, 2019
The Republic of Serbia will host 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) from the 13th to 17th of October, 2019.
It is a gathering that brings together lawmakers from all over the World to deliberate on various issues across many sectors of human interest, as well as matters affecting lawmakers in member countries, among others.
Serbia hosted the ( IPU) Assembly for the first time in 1963 at its 52nd Assembly, and has gotten the privilege to host lawmakers across the world after fifty-six years. The announcement for Serbia to host this year’s Assembly was announced at the 140th Assembly of the IPU in the Doha Qatar.
Speaker of the Serbia National Assembly, Rt. Honorable Maja Goikovic has said generations of outstanding Serbian and Yugoslav Members of Parliament worked hard and advocated for the proclaimed principles and goals of the IPU including, peace, cooperation among nations, building representative institutions through the broadest and most comprehensive Parliamentary dialogue.
“Through the efforts of the Parliament and MPs, these goals have been integrated into the political being of Serbia with equal commitment they continue to defend and promote those goals in their daily work”.
She asserted that the highly set goals, such as peace, cooperation, dialogue, the law and security have all been built into the foundations of the existence and work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union since its establishment in 1889.
The Union enjoys full international legality, credibility and political capacity, with 170 full members through their respective Parliaments and 11 Associated Members, different international parliamentary bodies, which are active actors of contemporary international relations.
“Our country is undergoing pre-accession negotiations with the European Union in order to become its Member State. This implies building up democratic institutions, a legal state, and a political system based on the rule of law and respect of human rights”, he added.
The European Union (EU) integration process implies the acceptance, integration, and implementation of the EU acquis communautaire, which can be achieved in terms of quality and quantity only by achieving standards of democratic societies, rule of law and democratic institutions. All of these are also the strategic goals of the Republic of Serbia for the forthcoming period.
She noted; “The future role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in terms of its cooperation with the Republic of Serbia and its National Assembly should be defined in three key aspects: preservation of general peace, stability and constructive cooperation at all levels; promotion, development and application of the democratic principles and standards and building up democratic institutions and the rule of law in Serbia; full implementation of parliamentary diplomacy and affirmation of the Parliament in international relations”.
Rt. Honorable Maja Goikovic, emphasized the relevance of Parliamentary diplomacy, the key holder of which IP, since it is at present very much in focus not only as a legal discipline and practice, but also as an institutionally accepted, standardized and integrated mechanism for communications and action in international law and international relations as a whole.
In a welcome statement, the Speaker noted that the forthcoming period, the National Assembly of Serbia would continue investing great efforts in achieving common goals promoted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and enhancing cooperation with the organization itself and its members.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com