THE FOLLOWING IS THE SPEECH OF THE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA IN ITS ENTIRETY:

Dear children,

Dear Friends of Children of Serbia,

Welcome to the National Assembly and thank you for bringing joy into these serious halls of ours with your wonderful works and especially for honouring us with your visit. Children are our dearest guests here, in the Assembly, and we always try not to embarrass ourselves when you come to visit us. I hope you have a nice time here and always remember that we, who are all older than you and now are serious and maybe strict, were all children once and have not forgotten to act like children.

We are grateful to your hosts from the organisation Friends of Children of Serbia for everything they do to protect your rights and teach you about them, because that is very important for your development and for all of us to learn how we can help you spend your childhood carefree.

We in the Assembly pass laws that govern what kind of attitude our whole society will have towards children - both in kindergartens and schools, as well as everywhere else children spend time, study and work.

We are very serious when we talk about children's rights, we work hard on it and so far have made good decisions on how to further protect our children from everything bad that can affect their peaceful and happy upbringing. Organisations that deal with children's rights, such as the Friends of Children of Serbia, help us there a great deal, because they are directly with you every day and know best what your needs are and where we as a state should react.

Nowadays, children are exposed to many risks and many challenges that can negatively affect their development and especially their rights to go to school, socialize and have a happy childhood in general. We must intervene and further strengthen the protection of children from various violent and inappropriate content in the media, especially on social networks, we must make sure to train our children to recognise and stay away from such content and the abuse abounding in the digital world.

We still have a lot of work to do, but we also have a fervent desire to continue to create the most beautiful and safest framework in which all of you can grow up without fear or exposure to various negative influences that are unfortunately all around us. This Assembly, as well as all our friends from other state institutions are at your disposal, to you and to your friends from children's organisations. We will always listen to what you have to say to us and we will do everything to ensure that your suggestions are put into action.

I hope you have a nice stay in this beautiful Assembly of ours and please come and visit us again.

Thank you!