U.S Congressman Asks EPP to Sever Ties with Serbian Progressive Party

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Republican U.S. congressman Joe Wilson has called on the European People's Party to sever all ties with the Serbian Progressive Party, saying it "has become a vehicle of corruption."

In a Sept. 26 post on the X social media platform, Wilson said he sent a letter to EPP president Manfred Weber on Sept. 24 asking the EPP to end the Progressive party's status of associate member and "sever any other ties." The congressman made a number of severe accusations against the Serbian Progressive Party and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Wilson said in the post accompanying the letter that "Vucic and his corrupt authoritarian party are opposed to Western civilization and should not have any association with the EPP," adding that Europe "must wake up" to Vucic's election rigging and demand free and fair elections in Serbia.

"I write to request that the European People's Party officially revoke the associate member status and sever any othe ties with Aleksandar Vucic'c Serbian Progress Party. The [party] has demonstrated over an extended period that it is not committed to democratic competition and is not interested in being part of Western civilization," the letter opens.

The U.S. congressman said the Progressive party, as the ruling party in Serbia under Vucic, has continually misused state resources and security services to rig elections. "The OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights declared the 2023 parliamentary elections to have taken place under 'unjust conditions.' OSCE observers said that the ruling party blurred the distinction between government activities and election campaigning and that public resources were used for political purposes. None of its recommendations have been implemented and there is every indication that Vucic and his partner Russia are already working to rig the 2026 elections," Wilson's letter reads further.