Politiko: MEPs condemn European Commissioner's visit to Serbia, sends wrong message

Members of the European Parliament condemned today's arrival of European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Bruner to Serbia, warning that the "timing is bad" and that it could be a propaganda victory for the government in Belgrade, writes the Brussels-based portal Politiko.

Magnus Bruner is visiting Serbia today, during which he will meet with President Aleksandar Vučić.

His visit comes just weeks after the European Commission assessed the possibility of freezing 1,5 billion euros in aid to Serbia due to controversial judicial reforms and general democratic backsliding, according to Politiko.

Tonino Picula, a Croatian MEP from the Socialists and Democrats group and the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia, told Politko that there was "a risk that the regime could use this visit to project an image of business as usual, which does not reflect the current situation."

According to Politiko, Bruner is to discuss cooperation between Brussels and Belgrade in the field of migration and migration management. Politiko recalls that Serbia, which signed an agreement with the EU in 2004 on deepening cooperation in the fight against irregular migration, is a center for human smuggling and migrants trying to enter the EU via the Western Balkan route.

Slovenian MEP and vice-president of the liberal Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, Irena Joveva, said that Serbian authorities will likely "instrumentalize" Bruner's arrival "as a PR tool."

"While Magnus Bruner may view this as diplomacy and normal relations with a candidate country, Vučić is using these painting opportunities to sell the domestic narrative of a great statesman balancing global powers for the benefit of Serbia," Joveva told Politiko.

Politiko reminds that Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012 and that it must complete reforms and strengthen the rule of law and democracy to join the Union. It also adds that since 2024 the country has been rocked by anti-government protests following the death of 16 people in the collapse of a carport in Novi Sad, with frequent clashes between police and demonstrators.

It also reminds that in January the government pushed through a package of laws restructuring the courts and changing the way judges are appointed, which alarmed NGOs and the EU, and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos called these changes a serious step backwards and said that Brussels could stop funding for Belgrade if these laws are not withdrawn.

Co-chair of the European Green Party Vula Ceci (Tsesi) told Politiko that "a clear and alarming deterioration in the rule of law, media freedom and freedom of protest" has been recorded in Serbia.

"I have been to Belgrade twice in recent months and witnessed first-hand the climate of intimidation and police repression of student protests. At such a moment, a visit by European Commissioners risks sending the wrong message," she said.