Helsinki Committee President Sonja Biserko says Serbia is obstacle to region’s progress

Serbia’s tendency to dominate its neighbors is the main obstacle to progress of the countries of the region, says Helsinki Committee President Sonja Biserko.

She said that in an opening speech at the European Parliament and the Western Balkans meeting.

Biserko pointed out that “Bosnia-Herzegovina is facing constant internal crisis, mainly due to Belgrade’s policy” while “the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion confirmed legality of Kosovo’s independence, which did not change Serbia’s position on Kosovo”.

The NGO head has warned that “the current situation in the region causes much concern because some countries in the region do not have important prerequisites for true democratic consolidation and true improvement of relations with their neighbors”.

Biserko claims that Serbia “still has not decided whether its future lies in the European Union or in the so-called East”.

She also criticized the Serbian authorities over war crimes proceedings, which showed how Belgrade saw “historical war events which were caused by Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and Serbian forces’ actions”.

The NGO head believes that Belgrade is using population census in the neighboring countries “for a new strategy for maintaining relations of so-called Serb diaspora with the homeland”.