MEPs from five political groups have sent an urgent request to the European Commission to take immediate and concrete action regarding the use of spyware against student leaders, activists and opposition leaders in Serbia. They also asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to cancel her announced visit to Serbia, reports the European Parliament. N1.
"Together with colleagues from five political groups in the European Parliament, we urgently demand from the European Commission immediate and concrete EU action regarding the use of spyware against student leaders, activists and opposition leaders in Serbia," MEP Vladimir Prebilič from the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament posted on the X network.
In their request to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner Marti Kos, they set out four demands.
They demand that the European Commission immediately freeze all payments to Serbia under the EU Growth Plan.
"Immediately suspend all pre-accession assistance (IPA III), as well as payments to Serbia from the Instrument for Reforms and Growth. EU taxpayers' money must not subsidize an autocratic regime that spies on its own citizens. The funds must remain frozen until a full international investigation is completed," the MEPs said.
They then demand the cancellation of President Von der Leyen's visit to Belgrade.
"President von der Leyen should not visit Belgrade during her upcoming tour of the Western Balkans. Allowing Vučić to take a public photo with the media amidst these revelations constitutes a cover-up of serious repression and severely undermines the credibility of the EU," the MEPs stated.
They also demand that progress in the accession process be conditioned by accountability in the area of the rule of law.
"The Commission should demand an immediate end to the abuse of surveillance and an independent audit of the work of Serbia's security services (BIA and MUP)," the MEPs believe.
They also request that the Commission act on the recommendations of the European Parliament's PEGA committee.
"It is urgently necessary to implement the European Parliament's recommendations by establishing a binding legal framework that would strictly regulate the use of spyware, ensure full transparency and accountability towards victims, conduct an independent investigation and establish an EU technology laboratory to provide support to victims of spyware," MEPs stated.
MEPs called for urgent, immediate and concrete EU action after the SHARE Foundation's forensic evidence, independently verified by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab, was published, according to the document.
"And which confirm that the Serbian state is actively using commercial spyware against student leaders, activists, an MP and local opposition politicians. This is not a technical glitch, this is a direct attack by the state on democracy. Military-grade spyware, such as Pegasus, was installed remotely, while Android spyware ("NoviSpy") was forcibly installed on phones seized during police interrogations. Ahead of the upcoming elections, Aleksandar Vučić's regime is using illegal digital surveillance to systematically crush the political opposition," the MEPs stated.
They said that the European Union cannot continue to act as if "everything is business as usual while a candidate country uses the security apparatus as a weapon against peaceful students and elected representatives."
This is another example, as assessed by members of the European Parliament, of the illegal use of spyware in Europe.
"We are very concerned that, after the Member States, candidate countries are also using spyware outside any legal framework to monitor political opposition and activists. Five years after the first revelations about Pegasus and three years after the European Parliament adopted a recommendation to the Council and the Commission, following an investigation into alleged breaches and irregularities in the application of Union law regarding the use of Pegasus and similar spyware for surveillance, there is a strong and urgent need to establish an appropriate and binding legal framework," the document states.
These MEPs assessed that the policy of appeasement towards the authorities in Serbia had failed.
"It is time for the Commission to show that respect for basic democratic standards is a non-negotiable requirement, not a matter of choice. We expect a swift response and decisive action," they said.
Students say they were targeted by spyware, government and BIA deny
N1 recalls that the students in the blockade announced at their press conference that 14 people, including students, were targeted by spyware attacks. After their press conference, as reported by a student from Niš, two more Niš students came forward with information that they had received a notification about possible spying, and they handed over their phones to the SHARE Foundation for examination.
Given that the software is procured by states and official security agencies, the Security and Information Agency (BIA) denied the allegations, calling them "pure sensationalism." The allegations of spying were also denied by the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić.
And Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that the claims of students in the blockade that the BIA was wiretapping them were "suspicions without a single piece of evidence."
Previous spying cases
Amnesty first discovered previously unknown Android spyware in late 2024, which it called NoviSpy, N1 recalls. According to forensic findings, it was used against journalists and activists in Serbia. It can extract data from phones and remotely activate the microphone and camera. Amnesty states that it can attribute NoviSpy to the BIA with a high degree of confidence.
Amnesty announced in March 2025 that it had found evidence that two BIRN journalists in Serbia were targeted by Pegasus spyware in February 2025.
In February 2025, Amnesty released findings on the phone of a Serbian student activist. Forensic analysis showed that Cellebrite was used to bypass the protection of the Android phone and gain root access, and then attempted to install an unknown Android application, which was consistent with previously documented cases of NoviSpy.
The company announced in February 2025 that it had suspended the use of its products by "relevant users" in Serbia following Amnesty's report.
These cases have been before the High-Tech Crime Prosecutor's Office for two years.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
