STRASBOURG – The European Parliament voted today to add the topic of the situation in Serbia after the elections to the agenda of the plenary session on Wednesday. The discussion will be followed by a resolution, which will be adopted during the next plenary session.
The request to add the topic to the agenda was submitted by four groups in the European Parliament: Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, the Greens, and the Left.
MEP Andreas Schieder (S&D) spoke to justify the request. He said that the elections were plagued by irregularities, including phantom voters, pressure on voters, decisive involvement of the President in the parliamentary and local elections, and the systemic advantages of the ruling parties.
“When the international election observers, including the European Parliament and myself, raised these issues, the government and the President himself attacked the international observers. Therefore, I am happy that the majority of the groups have agreed to have this debate during the plenary”, Schieder said.
The European Parliament first voted to include the debate on the agenda of the plenary session on Wednesday and then for the adoption of a resolution on Serbian elections during the next session.
European People’s Party (EPP) supported the debate but asked for a postponement of the resolution until after the publication of the final OSCE/ODIHR report on the elections, which is expected in the coming weeks. This request was presented by the Rapporteur for Serbia Vladimír Bilčík.
The proposal for the debate was adopted with 270 votes in favor and 37 against. The proposal for the resolution during the next session was adopted with 185 votes in favor and 105 against.
Early parliamentary and local elections took place in Serbia on 17 December. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party scored a dominant victory nationally and a tight victory in the capital of Belgrade, but the opposition and the observers have accused it of serious irregularities.
The election day was followed by a series of protests. The largest opposition coalition “Serbia Against Violence” sent a letter to the EU institutions, requesting an international investigation into the electoral irregularities and a verification committee that will monitor and verify the implementation of the recommendations.