Davenport: Major progress in implementing restitution law

BELGRADE - The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport says that the country has made major progress in implementing the law on restitution, whereby property seized by the state after World War II is returned to owners or heirs.

This is very important in terms of respect of human rights and the rule of law, but is also in the interest of the state, because it encourages the economy, Davenport told reporters on Friday after discussions at the Agency for Restitution.

It is very important that the restitution process is transparent, he said, announcing that the EU will continue to monitor the implementation of the law.

Agency for Restitution Director Strahinja Sekulic said that a bill amending the law to also regulate the restitution of embassy buildings and agricultural land - which has been met with the most resistance - is now complete.

The bill envisions restitution in kind on a larger scale, which is more fair to citizens, he said.

Speaking about the restitution of property formerly owned by Holocaust victims, Davenport expressed hope that it will be regulated by a separate law, while Sekulic agreed that the consequences of the Holocaust must not be legalised.

Such heirless property should serve the purpose of memorial and educational community development, Sekulic said.

The deadline for submitting restitution requests expired on March 3, with 76,000 requests filed over the past two years and more than 21,000 first-instance decisions made by the Agency for Restitution.

To date, the Agency has restituted 2,264 business facilities, 364 flats and 332 buildings with accompanying land.

One million square metres of empty urban development land, 1,834...