Since the 2000 overthrow of Slobodan Milošević’s autocratic regime, Serbia made several important laws and constitutional changes and established national minority councils to safeguard the rights of  its minorities that were oppressed throughout the 1990s. Having potentially high powers in securing language, educational and cultural (although not territorial) autonomy, Serbian NCs have been readily recognized in recent scholarship as a safeguard for protecting minority rights, that ‘could potentially offer a template for addressing ethnic tensions in other Central and East European countries’ (Smith & Semenyshyn, 2016) and resulted in a lasting positive trend in Serbian-Hungarian relations and minority rights. However, while the history, activities and effects of the Hungarian national council has been relatively well studied, NCs of other ethnic groups in Serbia, such as Albanians, attracted less attention.

The goal of this webinar is to discuss and compare the effects of these two national councils in protecting their minority rights in Serbia. The webinar gathers several scholars and experts on the issue of the national councils in Serbia, and Hungarian and Albanian NC and Serbian officials institutions’ representatives. They will share their views about the results and achievements of the National Council in practice and their effectiveness in promoting minorities’ participation in political life, both at the local and national levels. According to their Statute, Councils’ proclaimed goals and values, as well as their actions, are focused on solidarity, and have democratic and inclusive character oriented towards collective problems of public interest. They have a goal to make a social impact through long-term activities coordinated with other political actors. Therefore this webinar aims to examine the possibilities of the National Councils of the Hungarian and Albanian National Minority in Serbia to be efficient channels for greater participation of minorities in political life in areas where these Councils have predominant role — sectors relating to cultural identity, education, language and the preservation of cultural history.