Eurasia Press & News
With 508 votes in favour and 76 against, MEPs adopted Vladimir Bilcik’s report on Serbia at the plenary session. After today’s vote, the report becomes the official resolution of the European Parliament on Serbia, reports the portal European Western Balkans (EWB).
The integral text of the resolution included an oral amendment by Vladimir Bilcik condemning in the strongest terms the mass murder in Serbia in May 2023 and calling for a thorough investigation in solidarity and mourning with the victims. Also, after today’s vote, 9 amendments were included in the text of the resolution, which, among other things, emphasized “concerns about the case of Electric Power Industry of Serbia, in which prosecutors were removed from the process, after they started investigating corruption in that company.”.
An amendment was also voted expressing concern over the appointment of BIA Director Alexander Vulin, known for his anti-EU views and pro-Russian rhetoric, who has shared information with Russian authorities in the past about meetings of Russian opposition ists in exile, adding the specific case of journalist and political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia.
It also included “regret that some high-ranking civil servants continue to banalize and ridicule the savamala case in public, despite the seriousness of the violation of the rule of law.”
Ep rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik wrote after the plenary vote that he hoped his report could encourage Serbia on its European path.
What’s in the resolution?
The resolution regrets, among other things, that Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia and expresses concern about the appointment of Aleksandar Vulin to the head of the Security Information Agency. Serbia is reminded that, as a candidate country for membership in the European Union, it must adhere to the principles and policies of the EU.
“Alignment with the warmongering autocratic regime is unacceptable,” the report said, condemning Serbia’s close relations with Russia.
The document also regrets the fact that “key components of Serbian foreign policy are in direct contradiction with the positions of the EU,” and in this regard, it mentions the signing of agreements that set out the common foreign policy priorities of Serbia and Russia for the period 2023-2024, as well as meetings with senior officials from Russia who are on the EU sanctions list.
As for the dialogue on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, both Belgrade and Pristina are invited to engage in this process in good faith and in the spirit of compromise in order to reach a comprehensive, legally-binding agreement on normalization, “based on the principle of mutual recognition”. It also calls for the full implementation of all agreements reached within the dialogue, including the Community of Municipalities with a Serb majority.
The EP reiterates its call on Serbia to deliver convincing results in cases of high public interest, including those of Krušik, Jovanjica and Belivuk. It is concerned about poor progress in these cases, as well as allegations that Darko Saric organised an international criminal organisation while in a Serbian prison.
“The European Parliament underlines the fact that efforts and political will are needed to achieve tangible results, especially with regard to the fight against organised crime,” the compromise amendments said.
Serious concerns about the situation in the area of freedom of expression and independence of the media are reiterated, saying that this is “an area that needs to be addressed as a matter of highpriority”. The establishment of a government working group to protect journalists is welcomed. It also expresses concern about imbalances between government and opposition representatives on nationally covered televisions.
“The EP calls on Serbia to improve and protect media professionalism, diversity and pluralism, promote quality and investigative journalism,” the amendments say. The EP laments the abuse of the ruling regime’s media in order to gain “an unfair political advantage, attack political opponents and spread disinformation”.
The EU accession process is based on the genuine readiness of a candidate country to adhere to EU values and principles. It expresses concern about the trend of declining support for Serbia’s EU membership and growing support for the Russian regime, “the result of years of anti-EU/pro-Russian rhetoric that is widespread through government-controlled media as well as by government officials.”
In the section on constitutional changes, the reform of the constitution in a referendum in January 2022 and the adoption of a set of judicial laws in the National Assembly in February this year are noted. The reform process should continue through the adoption of the relevant framework for the implementation of laws in accordance with the best European practices and in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
It is noted that according to the opinion of several civil society organizations and independent legal experts, the laws on the judiciary still leave room for the illicit influence of the exerted authorities on its work, and that the attitudes of CSOs gathered in the National Convention on the EU are not sufficiently taken into account.
As regards electoral conditions, MEPs call on the Serbian authorities to fully implement all OSCE recommendations, especially those concerning access by political actors to the media, transparency of election campaign financing.
MEPs express concern about the atmosphere in parliament, as well as the disruption of some parliamentary committees. It calls for one treatment of opposition MPs, consistent and effective implementation of the Parliamentary Code of Conduct and impartial sanctioning of violations of the integrity of the National Assembly.
“The European Parliament reiterates its call on the National Assembly to stop the use of offensive and inflammatory vocabulary, to oppose hate speech and sexism towards women during plenary sessions,” reads the compromise amendments, which have become an integral part of Vladimir Bilcik’s report on Serbia.
The EP resolution also mentions the operations of the state-owned Telecom company. It is said that Telekom is a company suspected of abusing its dominant position in the market, and that the ruling party is using Telekom to increase its influence over the media in Serbia.
It expresses concern about state financial assistance to Telekom, which gives the company “unfair market advantages over competition and contributes to the weakening of independent media”.
The European Parliament is asking the European Commission to pay attention to a €70 million loan from the European Investment Bank, given allegations of abuse of dominant market position.
It is regrettable that REM has assigned four national frequencies to channels that have a history of violating journalistic standards, including the use of hate speech and deception of the public. In particular, the EP amendments state that it is Happy TELEVISION, for “disrespecting the warnings issued by THE REM, spreading disinformation and supporting the Kremlin’s narrative of the Russian war in Ukraine.
