In Belgrade, on Oct. 13, Serbian ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and his European Union counterparts and Vincent Degert, head of the European Commission Delegation in Serbia, signed an agreement on cooperation directed toward strengthening the role of the Serbian ombudsman.

"The project, funded by the EU, gives the Serbian ombudsman the opportunity to try to answer as well as possible to the task of improving the quality of life of the people and of protecting their rights, in cooperation with colleagues from the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia and other countries," Jankovic told journalists after the signing.

He reminded that Serbia was the last country in Europe to set up the ombudsman institution, which is why "cooperation with those who have experience in the area" is very important.

Degert said that, with this project, the EU was putting its money where its mouth is and announced that the European Commission would set aside one million euros for implementing the project.

Degert added that all institutions had to assist the ombudsman, above all the parliament, and said the European Commission would give recommendations in this area and then supervise their implementation, which will be included in the Commission's report about Serbia.

Greek ombudsman Yorgos Kaminis said the Balkan aspect of the attempt should be borne in mind when building the role of the ombudsman and exercising the rights of the people.

Dutch ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer voiced satisfaction with the fact that his country was participating in the program of cooperation with his Serbian colleague.