Former Slovenian President: Serbian Authorities Using Uncertainty of Country’s EU Accession

Borut Pahor (BETAPHOTO/STA/Kosovapress/DS)

Former Slovenian president Borut Pahor said on April 3 that he was closely following the social crisis in Serbia, where the authorities had been using repression to respond to pressure from opposition student groups and demands for elections, claiming that the authorities in Serbia were making use of the uncertainty regarding the country's European path.

Pahor said he could still see some capacity for EU accession and that the European Union (EU) should organize a referendum on accepting Balkan countries as members. “What the Serbian authorities do not see quite clearly is whether a final commitment to the path toward Europe, which would inevitably lead to problems with Russia and China, and abandoning the policy of four pillars, would actually lead the country to Brussels, something I believe even Brussels is not certain about,” said Pahor, who also served as prime minister, speaker and as a member of the European Parliament.

“Such a green light would change things for the better internally as well, because the authorities are currently making use of the uncertainty regarding the European path, and many democratic standards have weakened,” he cautioned.