European Democrats to Vucic: You, Not the People, Are Threatening Serbia’s Bid to Join the EU

European union

European Democratic Party general secretary Sandro Gozi said on Sept. 5 in an open letter to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that it was not the people who were destabilizing the country and threatening Serbia's bid to join the European Union, but the government, with its use of violence, lies and attacks on liberties.

Gozi described Vucic's Aug. 21 letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as a "masterpiece of hypocrisy," stating that "facts, numbers and images tell another story."

In his letter to Von der Leyen, Vucic accuses Serbian students and protesters of perpetrating violence, "reversing the truth and blaming the victims of repression," the European Democrats said in a press release, stressing that Serbia could not join Europe while using repression and lies. "President Vucic, it is not the youth, it is not the citizens, it is not the demonstrators who are jeopardising the European path of Serbia: Serbia belongs to Europe. But it is you -- with your policies, your [denial,] your statements -- [who] are undermining the credibility and the [European] path of your country," reads the open letter of the member of the European Parliament.

In the letter, a copy of which was sent to the EC president, Gozi condemns the hundreds of arrests of students and citizens on charges that are "essentially political," "the violent arrests of women and even minors," the use of a sonic cannon and attacks on the freedom of the press and the intimidation of journalists. In practice, all this threatens the freedom of expression and discourages the participation of the people in democratic processes, he added.