First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said that the initiative for greater independence of the police in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina has no basis in the existing law, and the previous practice has also shown that this is not a good solution.

Dacic told Tanjug news agency that the current Law on police does not envisage the possibility of municipalities and cities having their own police.

That is why any discussion on a greater independence of the police in Vojvodina would need to be preceded by the reform of the organisation and structure of the police, Dacic underlined.

He noted that the Ministry of the Interior is open for discussion on any issue related to the improvement of the efficiency of work, but pointed out that it is precisely the communities with mixed ethnic composition of the population in which the police have achieved the best results.

The number of inter-ethnic incidents in Vojvodina dropped by 26% compared to two years ago and this is the lowest number recorded since 2004, the Interior Minister said.

He added that the Ministry of the Interior has good cooperation with local authorities in the northern province and called on all members of national minorities to apply for work in the police so that the police could be as close as possible to the local community they serve.