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Serbia asked to give more autonomy to Vojvodina
15/12/2005

(Novi Sad, DTT-NET.COM) - Beside Kosovo and Montenegro seeking independence, Serbian leadership could be faced with third burden at the same time as Ethnic Hungarians have stepped up calls for more political rights for Serbia’s northern province of Vojvodina.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to Serbia’s President Boris Tadic and Prime Ministers Vojislav Kostunica, leaders of three political parties of Ethnic Hungarians called for talks for new upgraded status of Vojvodina to be held in parallel with already UN led launched process on the future of the breakaway Kosovo.

There was no immediate response from Serbian leaders on the letter of the Andras Agoston from Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians, Sandor Pal from the Democratic Community of Vojvodina Hungarians and Laslo Rac Szabo from the Hungarians’ Civic Alliance.

Serbia lately has been under pressure from international human rights groups and European Parliament for repeated acts of violence in the Northern Province which has a minority of more than 300,000 ethnic Ethnic Hungarians.

In the report of last year Serbia has been critised By International Crisis group (ICG) on its hungarian minority human rights record. The ICG said that local politicians have recorded only in first five month of 2004, around 300 incidents orchestrated by members of radical party , including beatings, threats, the destruction of graveyards and national monuments, and anti-minority graffiti.

The European Parliament (EP) in a second resolution of this year adopted in September warned Serbian government that respect of human rights is a strict condition Serbia must implement in order it can move closer toward EU and to conclude the talks on Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with EU.

The resolution also called for increased competencies of Vojvodina’s institutions, which were abolished in early ‘90s by Slobodan Milosevic.

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