EU Officials Commend Vote in Favor of Amending Serbian Constitution

Serbian Constitution (BETAPHOTO)

In two late-night tweets on Jan. 16, European Union officials Vladimir Bilcik and Oliver Varhelyi commended the results of the day's referendum, in which Serbian voters chose to uphold the proposed amendments to those portions of their Constitution regulating the judiciary -- changes which both officials maintain strengthen judicial independence in Serbia and represent yet another step toward the country's EU accession.

"In today’s referendum voters supported the change of the Constitution to reinforce judicial independence. I welcome this important step & commitment to [the] EU path. We will continue to work with Serbian authorities on [an] ambitious reform agenda, advancing EU integration," wrote EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Vahelyi.

According to the Twitter statement by EU Parliament rapporteur on Serbia Vladimir Bilcik, the referendum outcome shows that Serbian voters chose "to improve the work and independence of their justice system." Bilcik underlined that "[t]he substance & result of 16 January referendum were about important rule of law reforms" and that the decision "moves Serbia another step forward on its EU path."

Serbian President and Progressive party leader Aleksandar Vucic announced in the evening of Jan. 16 that based on 97.8 percent of ballots counted, 60.48 percent of voters supported the amendments to the Serbian Constitution while 39.52 voted 'No.'