EP Report on Serbia Highlights Issues with Civil Liberties, Institutional Responsibilities

Tonino Picula (BETAPHOTO/European Parliament/Philippe BUISSIN)

The pace of Serbia’s accession talks with the European Union (EU) is dependent on tangible progress in implementation of key reforms and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, as well as on Serbia’s alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy, Tonino Picula, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur for Serbia, says in his first annual report on the country.

The report and a draft resolution have been composed as a response of the EP to European Commission Serbia Report 2023 and 2024, but, according to sources, they have also incorporated the latest developments in Serbia which have triggered concerns about democracy and the rule of law in the country. In the draft resolution, which will be before the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) on Feb. 20, the EP calls for opening a comprehensive and transparent legal process into the causes of the tragedy in Novi Sad.

EP also expresses deep concerns with systemic problems revealed by student protests in Serbia, including civil liberties, institutional and financial transparency and institutional responsibility. The document highlights the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and most harshly condemns violent attacks on peaceful demonstrators and arrests of those taking part in them.

In the document, which BETA has seen, the EP urges diplomatic missions of the EU member states to continue following court proceedings, while in parallel condemns ungrounded accusations by the Serbian authorities that the EU member states have organized student protests with the aim of starting “a color revolution.” In this context, the EP harshly condemns illegal arrests and persecution of EU citizens and publishing of their personal information.

The EP encourages the Serbian Government to increase transparency of media funding and investigate and process all cases of hate speech, smear campaigns and strategic suits against journalists. The document calls on Serbia to pro-actively resist disinformation, while also stressing the importance of creating a framework to facilitate civil sector organizations to operate freely and be engaged in policy creation.   

While noting that Serbia has proclaimed a membership in the EU to be its strategic goal, the EP underlines that the country needs to seriously demonstrate its strategic orientation for joining the EU and unequivocally communicate on the EU. The EP also notices that a limited or no progress has been achieved in fulfilling the criteria for EU accession, with particular deficiencies observed in some fields, including the rule of law, public administration reform and harmonization with the EU policies.