Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić assessed today that the European Parliament's (EP) Special Envoy for Serbia, Tonino Picula, with his denial actually confirmed the allegations of representatives of the Serbian authorities, according to which the delegation of EU parliamentarians was not invited to come to Serbia, nor was the EU Delegation in Belgrade consulted about it.
"(President) Aleksandar Vučić and I said that this EP mission to Serbia is coming uninvited. Picula told TV Nova that it is not true that they are coming 'unannounced'. These are two completely different things - so, they were not invited, but they announced themselves. Aleksandar Vučić told the truth," Brnabić stated in a post on the X network.
She also stated that the EU Delegation to Serbia violated diplomatic protocols with its behavior, but that it also showed disrespect for the institutions in Serbia, as well as its citizens.
"Picula says that the EU delegation in Belgrade worked on the program. Great. But, you see - we, representatives of the highest institutions of Serbia, were not even consulted, but were only informed when this group of MEPs would come and requested meetings. They didn't even ask whether the dates suited us or not," Brnabić said.
The Speaker of Parliament also says that by refusing meetings with EU parliamentarians, they have chosen to "respect their country's institutions and the most basic diplomatic protocol."
"We are not making our country a run-of-the-mill or colony where anyone can come, however and whenever they want," Brnabić wrote.
He also adds that he will "respect those who respect Serbia", and that Serbia "gets this from the EP, but not from Picula", who he believes represents "neither the EP nor the European Union".
"He is one of 720 MEPs. And he will meet with some of the 250 MEPs in our parliament. In accordance with the level he represents. And that is a lot for him," Brnabić said.
The EP delegation will be in Belgrade from January 22 to 24, but Vučić and Brnabić will not receive them.
The delegation comes after the EP adopted a resolution on Serbia in 2025, with the aim of directly informing itself about the situation in the country and discussing the state of democracy, the rule of law and other issues that are the subject of criticism in that resolution.
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