Vučević and Brnabić invited to talk with EPP leaders

The president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Miloš Vučević, said today in Belgrade that he received an invitation to talk with the leaders of the European People's Party (EPP) on October 22, after the conservative pan-European party launched an internal investigation into the ruling party in Serbia.

Vučević told K1 television that he was also invited to the meeting by the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, a member of the Presidency of the SNS, an associate member of the EPP since 2016.

"Ana and I received an invitation, if I'm not mistaken, to go to the European People's Party on October 22nd for talks regarding complaints related to the SNS," said Vučević, expressing his belief that "everything will be fine" with the status of the Progressive Party in the EPP.

The European People's Party announced on September 25 that it had begun an "internal review process regarding the role" of the SNS in the party, which brings together center-right parties from across Europe.

"This is not an official statutory suspension or expulsion procedure from the EPP, but a thorough and swift internal investigation with an open outcome," the EPP, the largest political group in the European Parliament, said.

That the SNS's status in the EPP would be the subject of discussion within that conservative political family was announced by its president, Manfred Weber, on September 9. He also said at the time that the European People's Party "carefully follows the situation and developments" in Serbia and that it "is not blind to the latest developments."

Previously, representatives of the Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberals in the European Parliament called on the EPP to exclude the Progressives from membership due to the undemocratic tendencies of the authorities manifested during months of demonstrations in Serbia.