European Green Party: Mission to Serbia a Form of Pressure on Brussels and a Sign of Solidarity with Serbia’s Citizens

Vula Tsetsi (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Vula Tsetsi, co-president of the European Green Party, has said that an upcoming mission of the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee to Serbia will represent for both the European Commission and the European Council “an important element of pressure and solidarity with the Serbian people.”

Speaking in a Dec. 12 interview with N1 TV, Tsetsi said that the mission, scheduled to visit Serbia at the end of January, would place pressure on officials in Brussels to stop “considering Serbia as a geopolitical element only” and encourage them to think about Serbia’s citizens and “the repression that exists” in Serbia.

Tsetsi explained that the mission was part of a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in October, which explicitly called for a parliamentary delegation to visit Serbia to assess the situation, find out what kind of reforms were being implemented, and to “talk with citizens about the situation on the ground, the rule of law, repression against protesters, and the freedom of the media.”

“We want to create an awareness of what is happening in Serbia, we want changes. They will not come from Brussels, but from within Serbia. At the same time, the people must feel solidarity and justice. Serbia’s future is in the EU, and we must do everything to make sure that the door remains open and that Serbia is ready. Under the circumstances though, we no longer trust (President Aleksandar) Vucic, because he has shown that he is taking a different path,” Tsetsi said.