Josep Borel, the EU's foreign policy chief, and Oliver Varhelji, the EU enlargement commissioner, jointly called on Serbian authorities yesterday to investigate "credible reports of irregularities" during Sunday's snap election, which saw President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) consolidate control in to the country.
The EU leader's call came a day after international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the sources were conducted in "unfair conditions" with "bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and abuse of public resources."
Two top EU officials also warned Serbia of potential consequences for its efforts to join the EU.
"In the light of these preliminary findings and conclusions, we conclude with concern that the electoral process needs tangible improvement and further reforms, since the adequate functioning of Serbian democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia's accession process to the European Union, according to the joint statement of Borel and Varhelji.
The recommendations of international observers for future elections "should be implemented as soon as possible and long before the next elections are held," the officials said.
"We also expect that credible reports of irregularities will be followed up in a transparent manner by the competent national authorities. This includes allegations related to local elections in Belgrade and other municipalities," they added.
Serbia is not just any country, it is not Russia, Kazakhstan, it is not Mongolia, it is a candidate country for the EU and we expect something else in Serbia, said Von Kramon
Member of the European Parliament (EP) Viola von Kramon also pointed out that numerous irregularities were observed in the elections in Belgrade that are not in accordance with international standards, and that "something else is expected" from Serbia as a candidate for the EU.
"It was quite clear to us how the whole procedure was carried out, it was of course dominated by the president and the ruling party and it is simply not in accordance with the election laws. Especially since Serbia is not just any country, it is not Russia, Kazakhstan, it is not Mongolia, it is a country candidate for the EU and in Serbia we expect something else," said the MEP.
She called for the formation of a committee that will conduct an independent investigation into the elections and added that she understands the anger of the citizens protesting in Belgrade.
"It is clear that it is unacceptable that people do not have residence in the city of Belgrade, and somehow vote from false addresses. Of course, this caused a lot of anger," she said, adding that she had seen footage of what was happening in the Belgrade Arena, but that she did not have the numbers. , and believes that it would be good to conduct an investigation into that case.
The Serbian opposition accuses the authorities of electoral fraud in the capital Belgrade. The OSCE has confirmed claims that voters from neighboring Republika Srpska were brought in to vote illegally in the Serbian capital.
At the invitation of the opposition coalition Serbia against Violence, citizens who believe that the elections in Serbia were stolen and last night, for the second day in a row, gathered in front of the Republican Election Commission as a sign of protest.
Those gathered in front of the headquarters of the RIK shouted "Treason" and carried banners with messages such as "I will not vote" and "The electorate was raped".
"Unbelievable electoral abuse and theft, that's why we do not accept these results and demand the annulment of the election," said one of the leaders of the opposition coalition, Marinika Tepić, last night.
She and another coalition leader, Miroslav Aleksić, started a hunger strike on December 18, stating that it will last until the demand for new elections in Belgrade is fulfilled.
Representatives of the "ProGlas" initiative, including Ivanka Popović, Svetlana Bojković, Srdan Golubović and Dragan Bjelogrlić, joined last night's protest and announced that they want "institutions to do their job" regarding the issue of regularity of elections.
Popović said that the representatives of "ProGlas" responded to the call of the students because they were with them when they explained to the citizens before the elections in Serbia why it is important to vote on December 17.
"For this reason and because we want a changeable government, regular elections and open media - and now the situation is obviously not like that, we understand the students' concerns," she said.
The Serbian Progressive Party dismissed reports of election fraud as "fake news". "We are very satisfied with how the election day went," SNS president Miloš Vučević told Prva television, adding that Serbia "can serve as an example for many other countries." Vucevic also said that he expects their candidate Aleksandar Šapić to be mayor of Belgrade again because "the list gathered around SNS won in Belgrade". He pointed out that a possible repeat of the election depends only on whether a majority will be formed in Belgrade, since no party can independently form the government.
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