Germany for the elections in Serbia: Irregularities unacceptable for an EU candidate country

2023-12-19 08:43:31, Kosova & Bota CNA

Germany for the elections in Serbia: Irregularities unacceptable for an EU

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany has said that the irregularities in the elections in Serbia, reported by international observation missions, are "unacceptable" for a country that is a candidate for membership in the European Union.

"Serbia has voted, but the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) have reported abuses of public resources, intimidation of voters and cases of vote buying. This is unacceptable for a country that has the status of a candidate country for membership", said the German Ministry through a post on X - the platform previously known as Twitter.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has said that the elections in Serbia were accompanied by serious irregularities, misuse of public funds, media dominance of the country's president, Aleksandar Vucic, negative campaigns and the spread of fear.

International observers and the OSCE mission have been part of the election observation missions in Serbia.

"These are serious problems that the institutions must address and investigate seriously, in order to create conditions for fair elections and stronger democracy in Serbia in the future", the OSCE said in a press conference. , held on December 18.

Regarding the irregularities on the day of the elections, ODIHR said that group voting and violations of the privacy of the vote were observed.

"We have seen serious irregularities, including vote buying", said representatives of international observers on December 18.

Doubts about irregularities in the election have been echoed by a part of the opposition.

The parties of the opposition coalition "Serbia against violence" have said that there were many irregularities in the local elections in Belgrade, and that the results do not reflect the will of the citizens.

At their invitation, some residents of Belgrade participated in a protest on December 18, demanding the cancellation of the elections in the Serbian capital.

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Vucic has rejected the accusations of the result being different from the will of the citizens, and other irregularities.

Some local observation missions in Serbia have also cast doubt on the result of the parliamentary elections, saying that drastic violations were recorded.

On December 17, Serbia organized parliamentary, local and provincial elections.

Vucic's party, SNS, has announced victory at all levels./ REL