European Liberals in CoE Warn of Misuse of Institutions in Serbia

National Assembly of Serbia (BETAPHOTO/National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia/Pedja Vuckovic)

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) warned during a debate in the Council of Europe (CoE) about the state of democracy, rule of law and human rights in Serbia, about the misuse of institutions in the country, the Movement of Free Citizens opposition party stated on June 24.

The Movement stated that ALDE, which rallies European liberal parties, expressed particular concern over the political misuse of security institutions, which included the illegal surveillance of the MP and vice-president of their party, Ana Oreg, and of intra-party communications.

“On the initiative of and with information the Movement of Free Citizens shared with international partners, ALDE Vice-President Lucia Plavakova pointed out that the Novi Sad tragedy, when 16 people were killed in the collapse of a concrete overhang, had become a symbol of a much deeper problem – the system marred by corruption, irresponsibility and absence of accountability,” the Movement declared in the statement.

The Movement stated further that the reaction of European liberals “represents an important confirmation that international partners are closely monitoring the events in Serbia and recognize the patterns of institutional repression, collapse of democratic standards and misuse of state resources for political purposes.” Furthermore, the Movement stated that they would continue to inform their international partners about all forms of institutional violence, human rights’ violations and undermining of democratic procedures in Serbia.