More Former Diplomats Join Statement Criticizing How Voting Is Being Organized Abroad

Local Elections in Serbia, June 2 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Fifty-five former ambassadors and diplomats have given their support to active diplomats who spoke out against the way in which the Serbian Foreign Ministry is organizing voting by the Diaspora in early parliamentary election on Oct. 25.

Since Oct. 10, 14 more former colleagues have added their voices to theirs. They are: Ljilja Belojevic, Rajko Bogojevic, Vlado Veres, Jovan Vujasinovic, Aneta Djermanovic, Vladeta Jankovic, Raco Jankovic, Goran Kapetanovic, Miroslav Kopecni, Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, Vladimir Curguz, Miomir Udovicki, Dragana Filipovic i Rada Hrustanovic.

The group of retired and former diplomatic representatives of Serbia said in a statement on Oct. 8 that they "give full support to our colleagues in the Foreign Ministry and welcome their initiative criticizing in a joint statement how voting is being organized for citizens of the Republic of Serbia abroad at the Oct. 25 parliamentary elections.

The statement reads that "it is difficult to understand the disputed proposals of the Foreign Ministry to essentially reduce, with the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska, the number of polling places around the world despite the large increase in interest among our expatriate citizens, that is, to not open polling places in a number of cities where they existed before. "Especially absurd and strange is the rule to hold the vote according to Serbian instead of local time," they stressed.