NGO: Elections in Serbia Becoming High-Risk Situation Due to Violence

Rasa Nedeljkov (Beta/Media center)

The surge in violence and unwillingness of the authorities to efficiently deal with the perpetrators has led to the upcoming parliamentary elections becoming “a high-risk situation,” the program director of the non-governmental Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), Rasa Nedeljkov, said on Oct. 5.
 
“Violence is always the worst possible news for society as a whole, especially during the campaign period. I am convinced that a vast majority of the public only wants to peacefully go out and vote and to believe in the elections as a democratic fight of arguments, not of physical force,” Nedeljkov told the Nova daily.

The analyst stressed that Serbia’s campaign period has, so far, been an extension of the discourse prevalent since the Nov. 1, 2024 Novi Sad tragedy, when 16 lives were lost in the partial collapse of the newly-renovated Central Railway Station
 
“The regime is adamantly trying to portray the opposition as the source of violence, [the ones] planning to topple the constitutional order, who won’t accept the results of the elections and the will of the people. The highest state officials have even mentioned civil war, and such messages carry the greatest weight,” Nedeljkov stressed.

In response to claims that CRTA is planning to withdraw from the voting process come election day, Nedeljkov stated that this is “the goal of all the pressures” being put on his organization.