MP Olena Papuga: Introducing Bosnian and other languages in the Serbian Parliament is a big step

BELGRADE, (Patria) – MPs of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) have secured the right for all MPs who are members of national minorities to soon address the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in their mother tongue and script.

This means that members of the national communities of Bosniaks, Slovaks, Croats, Rusyns, Roma, Bulgarians, Romanians, Vlachs, Macedonians, and others will soon be able to address the Serbian Parliament in their mother tongue and script.

MP (LSV) in the Serbian Parliament Olena Papuga told the Patria agency that the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities stipulated that the right to address the National Assembly of Serbia in their mother tongue belongs to an MP who is a member of a national minority whose number in the total population of the Republic of Serbia reaches two percent. Papuga believes that the adoption of such a law would be discriminatory, after which she requested its amendment.

“First, I requested that only those MPs from national minorities who have formed, organized national minorities speak their language in Parliament. After that, the ministry called me and proposed that the right to use their language apply to members of all national minorities elected to the Serbian Parliament, which was ultimately accepted,” says Papuga. She adds that such a procedure can be considered a step closer to the European Union for Serbia.

“This is, in my opinion, a big step forward,” she said.

When asked if the Serbian Parliament's decision would be a message in some way to the authorities in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska, which do not allow the use of Bosnian and Croatian languages in public institutions, Papuga believes that such political actions are unacceptable.

“I am from Vojvodina. I am a Rusyn. We have been educated in the Rusyn language for over 270 years. We in Vojvodina have no problems with that. And it is good that they /in the Serbian Parliament/ have taken inspiration from the Parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, where MPs speak in their own languages,” says Papuga.