National Convention on EU: Local Elections in Negotin, Mionica and Secanj Were neither Free nor Fair

Local Elections in Serbia, June 2 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The local elections held in Negotin, Mionica and Secanj on Nov. 30, were neither free nor fair, because the safety of voters going to the polls and their right to vote freely had been seriously jeopardized, the National Convention on the European Union in Serbia (NCEU) said on Dec. 2. 

NCEU called on the EU to “take into account the events during the election campaign and on Election Day when assessing the level of respect for the rule of law in Serbia,” because “the issues related to the electoral process in Serbia go significantly beyond technical failures or weaknesses in the law, and therefore cannot be solved only by improving regulations.” 

“What happened on Nov. 30 represents serious undermining of the democratic order in Serbia and requires an immediate response of the competent authorities and European partners. Incidents of violence, intimidation and organized disruption of the voting process were recorded on Election Day, as well as several cases when present police officers failed to react,” NCEU said in a statement.

“A few days before Election Day, attacks on candidates, as well as numerous cases of vote-buying and organized pressure were recorded and documented by videos, while the entire election campaign, contrary to the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR'), saw strong involvement of republican officials and promotion of pre-election investments financed from the budget,” NCEU said.