Lutovac: Dialogue With Authorities Would Make Sense If RTS Truly Became Public Info Service

Zoran Lutovac (Beta/Emil Vas)

The president of the Democratic Party, Zoran Lutovac, stated on Sept. 17 that any dialogue between the authorities and the opposition was welcome, providing that it is directed towards fundamental change in the rule of law, the fight against crime and corruption, in media freedom and in conditions for free and fair elections.

"The experience of the neighboring countries, primarily North Macedonia and Montenegro, tells us that EU mediation was crucially important for the implementing of changes that push things in a good direction," Lutovac told BETA, adding that he expected that such talks would be considered – not the ones that were already held before.

To the question about what was the condition for the talks between the authorities and the opposition to make sense and yield results, Lutovac replied that real talks had to be clearly defined, with criteria established in advance for controlling the effective and fundamental changes.

"That means progress has to be real and visible to each citizen of Serbia. In the example of RTS (the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation), that would mean that it truly becomes the public information service, which completely and truthfully informs the people about all important issues in the society, in a timely manner, and that there is room for critical thinking," Lutovac said.