EDP: Serbia’s European Path Cannot Be Salvaged by ‘Cosmetic’ Moves

Sandro Gozi (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Sandro Gozi, a MEP and the secretary general of the European Democratic Party, stated on June 29 that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic should not assume Serbia’s European future can be salvaged by “cosmetic” gestures such as announcing his resignation and that Vucic has no grounds to claim he is leading his country toward the EU while “preserving a system that contradicts Europe’s most fundamental democratic values.”

Gozi went on to slam the Serbian authorities’ attempts to frame recent changes as significant steps forward: “Announcing a resignation, calling early elections or correcting a law that should never have been adopted in the first place is simply not enough. There is no victory to celebrate.”

Serbia is very clearly far away from where it should be on its path toward EU accession, Gozi explained and stressed that, if the country “is serious about joining the European Union, the next steps are not optional” but rather “at the heart of the accession process.”

Specifically, Serbia must fulfill the “unequivocal” demands made by EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and “deliver electoral reform in line with ODIHR recommendations through a transparent and inclusive process, strengthen media freedom, and align more closely with the EU’s foreign and security policy” – moves Gozi dubbed “the minimum democratic standards expected of any country that seeks to join the European family.”

According to Gozi, “Vucic cannot change the scenery while preserving the same captured system.” Fundamentally, “Serbia needs a clear separation between party and State,” he said.

The latter entails “institutions that serve citizens” rather than the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, “public media that inform instead of manipulate, and police and judicial authorities that uphold the rule of law instead of protecting political power,” Gozi went on.

The MEP and top Democrat concluded by asserting his party “stands with the Serbian people, students and democratic forces demanding accountability, freedom and the rule of law, and firmly supports Serbia’s European future.” “But Europe has been clear,” he warned, “there can be no shortcuts to accession, no democratic discount, and no reward for merely repairing damage that should never have been inflicted.”