Pekanovic, the chairman of the Croat National Council in Serbia-Montenegro, was speaking in a round table discussion on the provisions of a future Serbian constitution which would regulate ethnic minorities' status. He criticised the existent constitution, promulgated in 1992, claiming that it "annulled all rights enjoyed by national minorities in Vojvodina for decades".
Representatives of ethnic minorities in the province, who insist that Vojvodina should be given judicial, legislative and executive powers, supported the province's representatives who are trying to ensure such powers for Vojvodina at negotiations with Belgrade on Serbia's future constitution.
"Our duty is to enable all inhabitants of Vojvodina to enjoy equal rights, regardless of their ethnic origin. This includes, among other things, the right to use and be informed and educated in one's mother tongue," Vojvodina Assembly Speaker Bojan Kostres told Hina, adding that this was the reason why full autonomy for Vojvodina was in the interests of ethnic minorities.