The European Green Party is deeply concerned regarding the integrity of the elections held in Serbia on December 17th. The report from the International Observation Mission and independent monitors in the country has highlighted serious electoral abuses and irregularities that have compromised the democratic process.
There is a whole series of manipulations of the electoral will of Serbian citizens that we condemn: pressure on public sector employees, misuse of state resources and media capture. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, an associated member of the European People’s Party EPP) ran a harsh negative campaign towards the opposition.
We condemn all the reported intimidation and violence against the accredited observers and controllers, and we call upon an independent investigation on all the allegations related to electoral fraud, votes’ buying and other irregularities that might invalidate the outcome of these elections, in which case the perpetrators of these crimes should be prosecuted.
Despite all the challenges, we want to acknowledge the great efforts of EGP Candidate Parties Zeleno-levi Front (Green-left Front) and Zajedno (Together) and to congratulate Green-left Front in doubling their presence in the National Parliament!
We also wish to express our full solidarity with the thousands of citizens of Belgrade and the opposition, who are protesting for several days in a row for electoral justice for the Belgrade local elections.