Brnabic Says Would Resign if Someone Asked Her to Approve International Election Probe

Ana Brnabic (Photo: Serbian Government/ Pedja Vuckovic)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Feb. 9 that she would resign if a representative of the European Union asked her to approve the conduct of an international investigation into election irregularities, which the European Parliament has called for.

"I have no intention of talking with anyone (from abroad) about conducting an international investigation. I would like someone to come and ask me to allow, as the prime minister, an international investigation in my own country. I would resign in that instant if someone asked me that," Brnabic told public broadcaster RTS.

Brnabic said an investigation could be conducted only by Serbian institutions and drew a parallel with Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Belgrade in 1914, saying that the Serbian government at the time "accepted everything but an international investigation." By this she was referring to Austria-Hungary's demand that its bodies be involved in the court proceedings in Serbia against the participants of the Sarajevo assassination.

Speaking as a guest on a show on RTS, Brnabic continued to attack the representatives of the Serbia Against Violence opposition coalition who took part in the Feb. 8 panel in the European Parliament ahead of the adoption of the Resolution on the situation in Serbia following the December elections. 

Both on RTS on Feb. 9 and on Pink TV late on Feb. 8, Brnabic accused Marinika Tepic, Radomir Lazovic, Pavle Grbovic, Nebojsa Zelenovic, and Biljana Stojkovic multiple times of calling for "the annulment of sovereignty of their own country" at the panel in the European Parliament, because they were calling for an international investigation into election irregularities.