The European People's Party - the largest political family in the European Parliament, to which the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) also belongs as an associate member, has announced that its status has been called into question. This happened for the first time since the start of the anti-government protests in Serbia and after several EP plenary sessions were held, some of which did not end with a resolution.
“The EPP has not turned a blind eye to what is happening in Serbia“, stressed EPP President Manfred Weber on 9 September in Strasbourg, adding that there is a debate on this issue within the EPP family.
"We are aware of the developments, we see the pictures, we see what is happening there", said Weber, specifying that in the coming days an EPP working group will be tasked with studying the issue of SPP membership.
Mass protests began in Serbia last November after the canopy of the recently renovated Novi Sad train station collapsed, killing 16 people. Protesters believe that the tragedy was caused by corruption and negligence. Their demands for a transparent investigation into the tragedy and accountability have evolved into calls for early elections. The student-led protests, which have been ongoing for ten months, have been mostly peaceful, but have recently seen increasingly frequent clashes between law enforcement and protesters, who accuse the police of brutality and excessive use of force.
At the same time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has refused to call early parliamentary elections, demanded in May by students who, at the end of last November, blocked over 60 faculties in the country and prevented classes from being held until the start of the new student candidate campaign. And after the protest of thousands at the end of June, the demonstrations turned into acts of civil disobedience, clashes with the police and mass arrests.
THE BELGRADE PROBLEM
The statement by the EPP chairman Manfred Weber on checking the status of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party comes after five opposition parties demanded that the EU impose sanctions against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Đuro Matsut and Speaker of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić for "police violence" during the anti-government protests.
On September 9, the European Parliament held a panel discussion entitled “Serbia: Democracy at a Crossroads“.
Duško Lopandić, vice president of the opposition Serbian party “Serbia Center“, said that the discussion on the situation in Serbia “opens a new chapter in the EU's relations with Belgrade“.
“The tone of MEPs is becoming increasingly critical, and the largest political group in the EP - the European People's Party (EPP), of which the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) is a member, is now distancing itself from the government's policy in Serbia. Nearly 40 MEPs participated in the debate, which is a rare occurrence and shows how much interest the situation in Serbia is generating. It is particularly telling that the EPP has also announced that it will consider the SPP's membership, which is a kind of warning before its exclusion," said Lopandic.
Austrian MEP from the European People's Party (EPP) Reinhold Lopatka, who was also part of the discussion, said that the recent events in Serbia were important and that the authorities "must ensure respect for fundamental human rights."
"Serbia is a key EU partner in the Western Balkans and we see its future in the Union, but the path to membership must be based on democracy, and Serbia is not currently on that path," said Lopatka.
During the same discussion, the representative of the Socialists and Democrats in the EPP, Andreas Schieder, who was part of the EP mission for the parliamentary elections in Serbia in December 2023, said that "Too many peaceful protests in Serbia have been characterized as terrorism and too many students have been beaten." Schieder also said the EU should introduce "personalized sanctions" for Vucic and other senior officials, adding that it was the duty of European institutions to support the citizens of Serbia.
Meanwhile, in her State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not mention Serbia and devoted only one paragraph to the Western Balkan countries and their path to EU membership.
“I was not surprised that Ursula von der Leyen did not mention Serbia in her speech, because that was not expected. But we have to look at the bigger picture and the circumstances. Von der Leyen has been building an image for years as a leader who can lead the EU through various crises, but she is experiencing a serious decline in trust. For example, after 700 days she mentioned Gaza for the first time in her speech. So the reason for her decline in trust lies (among other things) in the fact that she has no position on Serbia“, MEP Irena Joveva told regional TV channel En1 today.
However, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Koss hardened her tone for the first time on September 8, saying that “serious violence and vandalism“ on the streets of Serbia must stop immediately.
“We have a problem in Belgrade. "We expect the police to act appropriately and respect fundamental rights," Kos said, adding that statements by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, in which they insulted MEPs who attended an anti-government protest on September 5 in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, will not improve the opinion of the EU in Serbia.
"If you call MEPs scum, it shows a dubious understanding of democracy," said Marta Kos.
TWO LETTERS TO BRUSSELS FROM BELGRADE
When one of the veterans of Serbian civil society, Dušan Janić, sent a non-paper (unofficial document) to 400 foreign missions from Japan to Washington in mid-August with a proposal to resolve the crisis in Serbia through a round table at which representatives of the ruling party, protesters and the opposition would sit, comments appeared in the pro-government media that when you ask for help from foreigners to overthrow President Aleksandar Vučić, you are robbing your own country.
“Serbia is facing structural destabilization“, wrote the chairman of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Dušan Janić, in the distributed non-paper, analyzing the behavior of the most significant figure in the political life of the former Yugoslav republic after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic.
„President Aleksandar Vučić remains one of the most influential players in this crisis. He has consolidated his control over the media, key budget and investment decisions, and the management of the Serbian government, especially diplomacy, the army, and the police. He has used this power to realize the interests and values of a social group and to build the Movement for the Protection of the State. His behavior violates both the letter and the spirit of the constitution and the law on the president, which define the primary duty of the head of state as preserving the unity of the state, Janić told foreign diplomats.
Janić claims that the document is not intended to destabilize, but rather to help the authorities avoid a deeper crisis.
“This is more for them and could become their way of helping Serbia avoid a civil war,“ he stressed.
Janić suggested that the National Security Council consider the proposals in the unofficial document at its meeting and “start doing what is stated in it“.
Earlier, the chairman of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Dušan Janić, publicly called on Aleksandar Vučić to step down from his post and accept the mechanism for a peaceful transition to building a democratic society in Serbia. In 2001, he made a similar appeal to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milošenić, urging him to show conscience and foresight.
On August 21, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also wrote a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which he stated that student protests had turned into mass blockades and violent incidents led by extremist groups.
He justified the behavior of the police, which he said had been "maximum restraint" throughout those months, and pointed out that over 23,000 unannounced protest gatherings had taken place in the country.
„However, as participation in the protests declined, some opposition elements expanded their tactics to organized violence, including attacks on police officers, public facilities, and private property. "More than 170 police officers were injured while performing their duty to protect citizens - a responsibility that is the foundation of any democratic state," Vucic wrote to the European Commission president, referring to the riots in Belgrade and other Serbian cities in August, when anti-government protests, which had been peaceful until then, became radicalized.
He accused certain media outlets and NGOs, without specifying specifically, of spreading manipulative narratives and disinformation in an attempt to present, as he stated, violent incidents as peaceful demonstrations and lawful police actions as repression.
RESPECT FOR INSTITUTIONS OR MATHEMATICS
Meanwhile, the far right and the radical left in the European Parliament have submitted a vote of no confidence against Ursula von der Leyen, but the balance of power shows that the chance of the vote succeeding is almost zero.
Mathematically, support for the ruling party in Serbia in the National Assembly is still guaranteed and thanks to it, a second cabinet was formed after the then Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned at the end of February, taking responsibility for an attack with bats that broke the jaw of a protesting student.
But today, the Speaker of the National Assembly Assembly Ana Brnabić is preparing for her meeting tomorrow morning with European Parliament President Roberta Metzola.
Yesterday, Metzola said that Serbia must treat the European Parliament and its members with respect, in response to the term "scum" that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić used for MEPs who attended an anti-government protest in Novi Sad on September 5.
„I have been very clear with everyone, regardless of where they come from, with every head of state and government of every country, regarding how they should treat members of the European Parliament - that they should treat this institution with respect. I have also spoken to the prime ministers of the member states on this issue and will speak to the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić,“ said Metzola.
Unexpectedly, at the last minute, the panel where Brnabić was scheduled to give a press conference was canceled without explanation, and this circumstance forced the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament to organize her own appearance before journalists.
Yesterday, Ana Brnabić announced that she had discussed with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić what she would say in Brussels and announced that she was convinced that her upcoming meetings would be difficult.
And while Vučić is convinced that the protesters, who are entering the 10th month of their struggle, are “terrorists” and "agents of foreign countries", the pressure from the streets in Serbia continues, so that the chairman of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, and all those who wish, can look at the crisis in Serbia with wide open eyes.