Opposition Candidate: EU Seeking Mechanisms to Investigate Serbian Elections

Dobrica Veselinovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/DS)

Dobrica Veselinovic, Serbia Against Violence’s main candidate in the December 2023 vote for Belgrade’s local government, has said that representatives of Serbia’s opposition, university student organizations and non-governmental sector were told by Brussels that the situation in the country is being monitored and that the EU is exploring ways for the international community to investigate Serbia’s last elections and mediate towards a solution to the ongoing disputes.

“It’s more than apparent and clear that the elections in Serbia were not honest and fair. A resolution on Serbia is in the works and will be voted on by the European Parliament in early February. We went to Brussels to notify our partners from the Green bloc, as well as all other interested parties, of what happened [during the elections],” Veselinovic, who is a member of the Green-Left Front presidency, told N1 late on Jan. 24.

The politician explained that he spoke with EU Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, EP rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik and other EU representatives from whom the Serbian delegation “again requested an international investigation and mediation” so that fairer voting conditions could be created and all the violations noted by domestic and foreign observers could be rectified before the elections are repeated. In response, the opposition received assurances that the situation in Serbia is being monitored.

“That means they are currently seeking a format for how this could be achieved – whether via an ad hoc EP mission or in some other way. I think that after the EP sitting scheduled for Feb. 7 and 8, we can expect some mechanisms to be set in motion,” Veselinovic concluded.