Brnabic, EU Delegation Discuss Serbia’s EU Path, Opposition Demands Deployment of Independent EU Commission

Ana Brnabic (BETAPHOTO/Narodna skupstina Srbije/Pedja Vuckovic)

In a meeting with a delegation EU‑Serbia Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee in Belgrade on Oct. 28, Serbian Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic said she was hoping to see a positive step forward in the country’s EU accession process by the end of the year. 

During the meeting with committee Co-chairman Loukas Fourlas (Cyprus, Conservatives) and Members of European Parliament (MEPs) Alessandra Moretti (Italy, Social Democrats), Annamaria Viscek (Serbia-Hungary, right wing), and Aleksandar Nikolic (France, far right), Brnabic said that a soon opening of Cluster 3 in Serbia’s accession talks with the EU would be great news for the country, according to a release from the Serbian Parliament. 

Brnabic stressed that EU membership was Serbia’s main foreign policy priority. She also thanked EU Ambassador to Serbia Andreas von Beckerath for his “considerable engagement and assistance” with regard to “implementation of the required reforms.” It was positive, she said, that the EP delegation included representatives of four difference parliamentary groups, adding that the task of members of the parliament was to facilitate dialogue despite different stands. 

After meeting with the EP delegation, Freedom and Justice Party vice president Marinika Tepic said the opposition had requested from the EU to deploy an independent commission to Serbia to monitor the ongoing crisis, adding that Serbia’s citizens needed help to ensure crucial election conditions. Tepic also said that the Serbian regime was trying to undermine the importance of the recent EP Resolution, which was critical of Serbia. 

“It means that recommendations contained in the Resolution are unimportant for the regime, and so are the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) regarding elections, such as updating the electoral roll and regulating electronic media, but also those referring to hate speech, discrediting regime critics, halting repression and retaliation, the rule of law, and media freedom, as well as a transparent investigation into corruption and the tragedy in Novi Sad on Nov. 1, 2024,” Tepic said.