MPs from pro-European opposition parties in Serbia announced today, after a meeting with a European Parliament delegation in Belgrade, that they told the delegation members that the European Union (EU) should introduce personalized sanctions against officials from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and others, including the new head of the Criminal Police Directorate, Marko Kričak.
Green-Left Front co-chairman Radomir Lazović stated that the opposition discussed with the EP delegation the "continued repression of citizens" in Serbia, the recent police intervention against students and professors at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, the appointment of new police officials, the formation of the REM council, and the influence of Russian security services in Serbia.
Lazović assessed that the problems identified in last year's EP resolution on Serbia have deepened.
He thanked the MEPs for coming to Serbia and added that the opposition welcomes the EP's "continued engagement" in resolving the crisis.
He stated that the opposition, in addition to personal sanctions, has asked the European Parliament to impose strict conditions on Serbia's withdrawal of funds from the Western Balkans Growth Plan, that the European People's Party (EPP) consider SNS's associate membership in that political group in the EP, and that "even the smallest positive changes are not used to obscure the essence" of the situation in Serbia.
Lazović added that the opposition explained to the EP delegation what was needed to make the elections in Serbia fair and honest, and announced that the opposition would seek further meetings in Brussels.
Serbian People's Movement MP Đorđe Stanković assessed that the EPP is now condemning the SNS perhaps "more harshly" than other political groups in the European Parliament, and that its members have changed their stance towards the SNS.
He believes that if Serbia does not seize the opportunity to join the European Union in the near future, it will become "that black hole on the carpet" of the EU, and that it is "never further away" from the Union, which can be seen from the proposed laws and changes in parliamentary procedure.
Stanković stated that the SNS is trying to distance "the entire idea of the EU" from the people of Serbia.
He said that the pro-European opposition wants Europe to know that there is an alternative to the SNS in Serbia and that the EU has partners with which to work in the future.
Freedom and Justice Party MP Borko Stefanović said that the meeting also discussed the possibility of sending an EU observation mission to the upcoming local elections in Serbia, and that this would not be a precedent.
He added that the European Parliament mission demonstrated a high level of knowledge of the facts and that it also heard concrete proposals for further steps from representatives of pro-European opposition parties, who worked "in full coordination" with each other.
Stefanović said that they heard from "a high-ranking member of the EP delegation" that three things are important for the EU: whether the SNS is committed to Serbia's membership in the EU or not, whether the SNS wants democracy, and what Serbia's relationship is towards Russia.
Free Citizens' Movement MP Pavle Grbović assessed that the visit of the EP delegation is a signal that the situation in Serbia is not normal for the EU.
He stated that it is important that the EP delegation will also meet with representatives of civil society, the media and students.
Grbović added that the opposition has proposed several measures that the EU could implement in relation to Serbia, and cited as an example the redirection of funds from the Growth Plan to assist civil society organizations and independent media.
He said that Serbian institutions are misusing EU funds by purchasing software to monitor the media, the opposition and activists, and that they are "an integral part of the corruption chain", instead of preventing corruption.
Nine members of the delegation of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) are meeting in Belgrade today with representatives of the Serbian Government and parliamentary parties about additional reforms needed to advance Serbia's EU accession process.
MEPs are meeting separately in the Serbian Parliament with MPs from the ruling and all opposition parties, and a special meeting with representatives of five pro-European parties that reached an agreement on coordinating activities towards the EU on December 25 (Freedom and Justice Party, People's Movement of Serbia, Green-Left Front, Movement of Free Citizens and Serbia Center).
The AFET delegation includes three members of the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, two members of the Socialists and Democrats, and one member each of the Greens, the liberal Renew Europe group, the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists, and the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group.
The members of the EPP delegation are Reinhold Lopatka from Austria, Davor Ivo Štir from Croatia and Rasa Juknevičiene from Lithuania.
The Socialists and Democrats are represented by the head of the delegation, Marta Temido, and the EP rapporteur for Serbia, Tonino Picula from Croatia.
The Greens are represented in the delegation by Vladimir Prebilič from Slovenia, the Renew Europe group is represented by Helmut Brandstetter from Austria, the European Conservatives and Reformists by Šerban-Dimitrie Sturza from Romania, and the Europe of Sovereign Nations by Petr Bistron from Germany.
The mandate of the AFET delegation stems from the European Parliament Resolution of 22 October 2025, which states that MEPs support sending a fact-finding mission to Serbia.
In the resolution, which calls for a broader investigation into the extent to which corruption has led to the lowering of security standards and contributed to the Novi Sad tragedy, MEPs supported the right of students and citizens of Serbia to peaceful protest and strongly condemned the wave of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and indiscriminate arrests. They assessed that the Serbian leadership is politically responsible for the escalation of repression, the normalization of violence and the weakening of democratic institutions in the country.
Brnabić: The mission does not represent European values, it blatantly interferes in Serbia's internal affairs
Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić assessed today that the European Parliament (EP) mission staying in Belgrade "does not represent the spirit of the European Parliament, nor does it represent European values."
"She is there to brutally and inappropriately interfere in the internal affairs of the Republic of Serbia and takes the side of those who want to bring chaos to our society through undemocratic means. And she is on their side only because they would listen to her without question. Them, not our people and our citizens," Brnabić wrote on the social network X.
She was reacting to the statement of MEP Vladimir Prebilič, who is part of the mission, who said that the mission is not coming just to establish the facts, because it already knows a good part of it, but also to "tell the people in Serbia that they are not alone in their struggle, to embrace them and that they care about getting out of the crisis."
"As we told the citizens of Serbia, the EP's 'fact finding' mission is not actually coming to establish the facts, they already have their 'facts'. They are coming to publicly support the blockaders and are communicating this exclusively through Šolak's media. So much for objectivity, impartiality and the desire to establish the 'facts'," Brnabić added.
She previously stated that she would not meet with the members of the delegation because she was traveling on an official visit to Estonia, but she has repeatedly reiterated that she would not meet with the EP delegation even if it were in Serbia, because they did not consult about the date of arrival.
Raguš (SNS): Government MPs wanted dialogue with the delegation, but we didn't get it
MP from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Marina Raguš stated that representatives of the ruling majority wanted a dialogue with the European Parliament (EP) delegation today at a meeting in the Serbian Parliament, adding that the government was ready to talk about its mistakes, but that they did not receive that dialogue.
"You want to see a minimum of a balanced position, based on facts. And then you didn't get that, you got a verdict (the EP resolution on Serbia). 180 MPs stood up in the EP against that verdict, 79 didn't want to be present in the hall, and over 100 voted against. We didn't get that dialogue," Ragus told reporters.
She assessed that the representatives of the EP mission allowed themselves "shame" today, stating that they were 30 minutes late for the meeting, then cut it short, and that she had "never seen that in her long political career" and assessed it as disrespect.
"Even behind enemy lines, communication channels are opening up, but this was the message - 'We won't listen to you, we only listen to the opposition,' because we recognized quotes from the opposition in that verdict," said Ragus.
According to her, what the ruling majority MPs experienced today is not their shame, but the shame of the EP's mission, and that it is "not a message to us, but to majority Serbia."
"No foreign mission will determine for us who will be in power here, or try to overthrow the legal order guaranteed by the Constitution. The time for responsibility is here," said Ragus.
She stated that she knows that the current ruling majority "is not up to the task" of that mission, "nor will it ever be," because it does not want to recognize Kosovo's independence or impose sanctions on Russia.
Ragus also said that in a short time at the meeting, they managed to express their dissatisfaction that the European Parliament's resolution on Serbia, which she calls a verdict, was written by its rapporteur for Serbia, Tonino Picula, stating that he is a man "who takes pictures in a Black Mambas uniform and celebrates Operation Storm."
"We were unable to find out how the difference of 1,5 million votes was stolen, what was the difference between first and second in the presidential elections in Serbia, we were unable to hear and see evidence of the use of a sound cannon... We were unable to hear a single fact or evidence that was stated in the EP resolution, and we were ready to discuss everything," she said.
She assessed that the messages being sent from one part of the EP were not good and that the ruling majority had requested a change of rapporteur for Serbia - Tonino Picula, stating that he could not be objective.
"Because the reporter for Serbia is not objective and he fully defined his position when he triumphantly announced himself in the Black Mambas uniform, alongside all those Krajina residents and Serbs from the Republic of Serbian Krajina and Croatia who were ethnically cleansed during two operations - Flash and Storm," said Raguš.
She stated that at the meeting with the MEPs, they shared a "chronology of protests" over the past year - more than 29.000 illegal gatherings, more than 700 "completely demolished" SNS premises, as well as physical attacks on activists and officials of the party and numerous threats made against them.
"We have not received any response to that, and that is a criminal offense in all EU countries - discrimination based on political option," said Raguš.
She added that the government will fight for every citizen of Serbia, "with the full awareness that when we make a mistake, we know how to apologize and work to correct every mistake."
"We reminded the delegation that the government here fell, that Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned, because our activists attacked others who tried to write something on our party's premises and that was not right. Any violence is not right," she said.
She stated that politicians must endure various insults, but that their families, friends, political associates and any citizen of Serbia must not suffer any discrimination or be exposed to any violence.
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) MP Dunja Simonović Bratić said she was "shocked" by the meeting, stating that it could not really be called a meeting and that "she has never experienced such rudeness and disrespect."
"I assume that they hoped that we would not wait for them, but that we would leave the meeting a priori, since they were almost half an hour late, because they were busy with meetings - what with the entire opposition, and later with those who are closer and dearer to them, the so-called pro-European opposition," said Simonović Bratić.
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