Opposition Parties, European Democrats Criticize Local Elections in Serbia

Local Elections in Sevojno, March 29 2026 (BETAPHOTO/Dragan Karadarevic)

The European Democrats said in a statement on March 29 that, according to reports from Serbia, accredited elections observers and activists were beaten and intimidated in front of polling stations in Bajina Basta, one of the ten areas where local elections took place in Serbia on March 29, noting that "that is what [Serbian President] Aleksandar Vucic's democracy looks like."

What is happening in Serbia today is not just alarming — it is unacceptable. Reports from across the country describe a systematic assault on democracy: alleged ballot fraud, duplicate voter lists, vote-buying, intimidation around polling stations, and even the presence of armed… pic.twitter.com/PDQR7vBXzX

— European Democrats (@democrats_eu) March 29, 2026

In a post on the X social media network, the European Democrats reported that eyewitnesses described groups of people with ties to Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party patrolling around polling stations, spreading fear and disrupting oversight. "That is what Aleksandar Vucic's democracy looks like -- bullies in polling stations. This is no incident, its a system. When violence protects a government, elections are no longer free," the European Democratic Party said in the post.

The post went on to ask the friends of the European People's Party, which the Serbian Progressive Party is an associate member of, "How do justify this?" "Is this really the standard that you accept from your political family?," the European Democrats asked.

Many opposition parties have criticized how local elections unfolded in ten areas, reporting irregularities and arrests of activists. Former Serbian president Boris Tadic, now the leader of the Social Democratic Party, said Vucic had "dispatched his hordes of evil -- thugs, hardened criminals, his most important allies" to the ten Serbian towns that elected their local representatives on March 29.