EU: Framework for Honoring Basic Rights Exists in Serbia, Has to Be Implemented Better

EU flags (PHOTO: EUROPEAN UNION/Zucchi Enzo)

The legal and institutional framework for honoring fundamental rights in Serbia has mostly been established, but its implementation must improve, the environment for the media and the civil society has seriously deteriorated, improvements and further reforms are needed in elections and, in foreign policy, the most important thing is alignment with the EU policy and restrictive measures, according to the latest EU report on human rights and democracy, published on Aug. 13.

The annual EU report on human rights and democracy in the world for 2025 is dedicated to the year that was marked by the endurance and diversity of conflicts and by the widespread distancing from the international order based on law and justice toward an order based on autocratic power, the EU has reported.

The part of the report about Serbia reads that the reaction of independent bodies to human rights violations in the context of protects had arrived rarely or late. “Although the freedom of assembly was generally secured and protests permitted, the safety of participants was not always guaranteed and there have been several violent incidents against the demonstrators and journalists, with reported cases of excessive use of force by the police. Only few perpetrators have been processed to date, while the president has pardoned several others. Such incidents have intensified over the summer,” the report reads.

As for freedom of expression, the EU has assessed that Serbia had amended its media legislation in order to harmonize with the EU acquis and European standards, but that the environment for the media and journalists had seriously deteriorated. “Frequent statements by high officials about the work of journalists have had an intimidation effect on the freedom of expression. The number of attacks and exertion of pressure increased in 2025 compared with the same period the year before, including physical attacks, some of which took place in the presence of the police who failed to react,” it was stated in the report.