MEPs voice concern about Serbia and alleged electoral interference by Russia

Martin Banks
Belgrade, Serbia. September 12th 2017: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with national flag and flag European Union speaks at a press conference in the presidency, Belgrade 2017

Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), MEPs have called for an expert mission to assess and address what they call “the systemic rule of law issues in Serbia.”

This is one of the key messages of a European Parliament resolution which was adopted on 8 February.

The plenary voted on a resolution at noon wrapping up its assessment of the situation in Serbia following recent elections.

MEPs state that, although smoothly conducted, the elections fell below the expected standards for an EU candidate. The draft also calls for an independent investigation into the parliamentary, provincial, and local elections’ irregularities.

Andreas Schieder, S&D MEP and member of the European Parliament’s election observation mission in Serbia, said: “In today’s resolution, we are sending an important message to Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling SNS Party who have been systematically ignoring international calls for tackling reported electoral irregularities and respecting international democratic standards.”
 
“We urge the European Commission to launch an initiative of an expert mission to assess and address the systemic rule of law issues in Serbia, following the example of the Priebe reports. This is key to restoring people’s trust in state institutions.”
 
“We also call for an independent international investigation into all reported electoral irregularities, such as phantom voters, vote buying, ballot-stuffing, intimidation, media bias, misuse of public resources, and pressure on public sector employees.”

In a separate resolution adopted on Thursday with 433 votes in favor, 56 against, and 18 abstentions, Parliament expresses what it calls its “complete outrage and grave concern about the continuous efforts by Russia to undermine European democracy through various forms of interference and disinformation.”

A parliament statement said, “With the Kremlin attempting to sow divisions between European citizens, the text highlights how Moscow is recruiting some MEPs as “influence agents” and has created a dependent relationship with certain European political parties, including through funding, which then act as amplifiers of Russian propaganda and serve Russia’s interest.”

Expressing “deep concern” over recent media reports that one MEP has allegedly acted as an informant for the Russian security service FSB, the resolution stresses it is imperative for both the European Parliament and the authorities to “thoroughly investigate the matter, to determine any appropriate sanctions and criminal proceedings.”

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Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.
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Martin Banks is an experienced British-born journalist who has been covering the EU beat (and much else besides) in Brussels since 2001. Previously, he had worked for many years in regional journalism in the UK and freelanced for national titles. He has a keen interest in foreign affairs and has closely followed the workings of the European Parliament and MEPs in particular for some years.
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