Serbia Center Party Leader: Students and Opposition Are on the Same Side of the Frontline

Zdravko Ponos (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Zdravko Ponos, the leader of opposition party Serbia Center (SRCE), on March 24 said that the EU 5 format (collaboration of five pro-EU opposition parties) had been productive in communication with the EU and European partners, but added that there was room to go a step further and establish other forms of joint activities. 

“If we speed up our activities, it would be motivating for everyone else to say – let’s make an agreement. Then it would also be an invitation to everyone else to join the winning combination. We have no time to waste, no matter when the elections will be held,” Ponos told TV Nova S. 

Ponos described as good news an increase in pro-EU sentiment which had been observed in the public. “I would be happy to see EU 20 format as soon as tomorrow, but we have to get there. Sooner or later, communication will also be established with the student movement. We are still waiting for a person we can talk to, and we will be waiting, because that person is worthy of attention, but a lot has to be done in the meantime,” Ponos said, according to a release from his party. 

He stressed that the opposition and students were “on the same side of the frontline,” adding he believed that they would establish operational communication prior to the elections, and political communication post-election. 

Ponos hailed the Council of Europe’s decision to deploy an observation mission for local elections on March 29, but stressed that rigging was not taking place only on Election Day. “Public officials have been promoted during this election campaign. The upcoming elections have already been largely rigged. The ruling party convention in the Belgrade Arena represented blatant campaigning by state officials, as well as the president’s tour of municipalities where local elections will be held. High-ranking police officials attended the convention nearly in the capacity of honored guests. And by bringing people who are branded as veterans of the (disbanded) Special Operations Unit (JSO), the regime has revived the ghosts of the past,” Ponos said.