MEP Says EP Recognizes Reasons for Protests in Serbia

Protest in Belgrade on March 15 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Gordan Bosanac, a member of the European Parliament, said on April 7 that the European Union was unfortunately behind in acknowledging developments in Serbia, but that most MEPs recognized the reasons for the mass protests in Serbia and that this would be reflected in the next report on Serbia's bid to join the EU.

The Croatian MEP from the Greens-European Free Alliance group said that not only were the "little voices" of MEPs being heard in the EU now, but increasingly more EU members were also changing their attitudes to the government in Serbia.

According to him, the rhetoric in the European Union is always conciliatory and dialogue-centered, but that has changed, and new Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has a good grasp of what is happening in Serbia.

"I can see that something is going to change in Serbia. Those changes may not be that quick, but I'm certain they will happen," Bosanac said at a webinar organized by the Brussels-based European Policy Center.

Aleksandra Tomanic of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group criticized the EU, saying it had managed to destroy the trust of people in Serbia who were very pro-European. She added that pro-European citizens in Serbia had pinned their hopes on the new European Commission and the new commissioners.