BAČKI PETROVAC 04. october 2009. Vojvodina Executive Council President Bojan Pajtić yesterday played host to Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčak.

Pajtić said that the province is implementing protection of ethnic minority rights according to standards higher than European.

He told a gathering at the Jan Kolar high school in the town of Bački Petrovac that "it can be said that minorities in Vojvodina have full cultural autonomy" after the Law on National Councils was adopted recently.

The school is this year marking 90 years since it was established.

"Vojvodina is the most European region in European Serbia. Vojvodina is the richest in Europe when it comes to the number of languages and dialects spoken, and we wish to keep it that way," he was quoted as saying.

Lajčak for his part pointed out that the high school was the oldest Slovak educational institution outside of Slovakia itself.

He thanked provincial authorities for applying high standards when it came to ethnic minority rights protection, and added it was thanks to this that Slovaks in Vojvodina have preconditions to live and prosper.

Serbian Education Minister Žarko Obradović also attended, and said Slovakia had set aside RSD 20mn for the reconstruction and equipping of the school, while the Serbian government and the Vojvodina executive council spent ten and five million, respectively, for the same purpose.

"This high school is testimony to the traditional friendship between the Slovak and Serb nations," the minister stated.

Serbian Human and Minority Rights Minister Svetozar Čiplić pointed out that every town in Vojvodina inhabited by Slovaks is in fact "the birthplace of tolerance, prosperity, and decency".

The Jan Kolar high school has ten Slovak and four Serbian language classes, and a boarding facility for its students.

Source: B92 Photo: Tanjug