Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023

Tabled by Pedro Marques, Tonino Picula, Thijs Reuten

Added: 58a. Deplores the fact that the Serbian parliamentary and local elections held on 17 December 2023 deviated from international standards and Serbia’s commitments to free and fair elections, owing to the incumbents’ persistent and systematic abuse of institutions and media in order to gain an unfair and undue advantage; considers that these elections cannot be deemed to have been held in just conditions; is alarmed by reports of the widespread and systematic scale of fraud that compromised the integrity of the elections in Serbia; notes that the I-EOM stated that the election was conducted smoothly, but that the day was marked by numerous procedural deficiencies, including the inconsistent application of safeguards during voting and counting, frequent instances of overcrowding, breaches of voting secrecy and numerous instances of group voting, and was dominated by the decisive involvement of President Vučić together with the ruling party’s systemic advantages; expresses its serious concern over these irregularities and the overall election environment, which fell below the standards expected of an EU candidate country; reminds the Serbian authorities that the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia’s EU accession process and the EU accession methodology; calls for an independent international investigation by respected international legal experts and institutions into the irregularities of the parliamentary, provincial and municipal elections, with special attention to the elections to the Belgrade City Assembly, as certain allegations, including those regarding organised voter migration at local level, go beyond the scope covered by the OSCE/ODIHR reports;

Wording as published by the EP, in English. PE756.724