Bilcik: Enough Time, Room to Improve Serbia’s Electoral Setting

Vladimir Bilcik (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/MO)

The European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilcik, said on Sept. 23 that there was still enough time and room for improvements to be made to electoral conditions in Serbia, adding that it was very important that “all relevant actors work to make sure that once a new election is called, the campaign is free and fair.”

In an interview with Demostat, a publishing and research center, Bilcik commented on a request by the Serbian opposition that elections take place in December saying that the decision was in hands of “the relevant authorities.” The EP rapporteur for Serbia suggested it would be politically important for any decision of relevance to representative democracy in Serbia to lead to a situation conducive to a public atmosphere with fewer divisions and polarizations, an atmosphere favoring reforms, “Which is of key importance for Serbia’s progress on its path to the European Union.”

In a comment on a decision by part of the opposition to block the Parliament of Serbia, Bilcik said that any decision that might undermine the work of the Parliament could not be good for parliamentary democracy, and that he hoped that the elected political parties and their representatives would be able to work in a functional legislature.

When asked by Demostat about his take on the media situation in Serbia, Bilcik said that the best answer to the question was in his latest report on Serbia, and cautioned against pressures on the independent media, Russian interference in media campaigns, and misinformation disseminated by the relevant media, which, as he said, contributed to anti-EU sentiments in the country.