McAllister: Serbia has Failed to Make Progress towards EU Accession in Years

David McAllister (Photo: Beta / /MILAN OBRADOVIC)

David McAllister, the chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Feb. 7 that the European Union (EU) had made mistakes in the Western Balkans enlargement process, failing to fulfil its promises, but Serbia, too, had failed to make any progress on its path to Europe in recent years.

McAllister made yet another request for an investigation into the allegations of electoral fraud in Serbia’s elections last December, adding that Serbia had yet a "long way to go" before it joined the Union. "The states of the region have made too little progress in the reform process for entirely different reasons. On the other hand, the EU has made promises that remained unfulfilled," the DTS agency quoted McAllister as saying in an interview with the German TV channel "Welt".

The MEP also commented very strongly on the situation in Serbia, stating that the country has not made any progress in the EU integration process in recent years. "A thorough investigation into the December parliamentary elections is needed. A final report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will provide grounds for it," McAllister said, adding that the European Parliament demanded that "Serbia makes significant progress  in the fight against corruption, in the area of media freedoms, in strengthening the parliamentary opposition, and in respecting the principles of the rule of law.”