It is unclear what happened last weekend in Kosovo, but this is something that neither Serbia nor Kosovo needs. I am surprised that it happened and I think everyone was surprised - KFOR and the international community, no one expected it. I think the (Brussels) negotiations were quite good, of course, there are some tactics, procrastination, but they went well, unlike the previous phases. There are claims that this is a Russian provocation, as well as that some people have gotten out of control, said Klemen Grošelj, a member of the European Parliament and shadow rapporteur for Serbia on behalf of the “Renew Europe” group in the EP.

Speaking for the podcast "Half and hour of Demostat" about the current, extremely unstable and uncertain situation in Kosovo, Grošelj notes: ”in any case, if it is not clarified in the next few days what happened, it could have a negative impact on the process itself (negotiations) and on both countries in the eyes of the international community, primarily the European Union. I hope that this will not happen and that we will quickly find out what those details were in the background, although we will not know all the details, of course, but we will know, at least roughly, what happened.”

Asked whether the latest crisis in Kosovo may be benefiting some of the foreign factors, including Russia, our interlocutor states: ”the question is whether it was provoked on their part, but external forces, perhaps not Russian ones, but some others, it is possible that they will try to use it in their propaganda and other agenda”.

"The events in Kosovo came at a time that is quite interesting - if you follow the developments in the EU, you could see that now the debate on enlargement has started again. You know, enlargement when I came to the European Parliament was suppressed as a topic, no one was talking about enlargement, and now we are talking about how the Union will adapt, prepare, for the big enlargement that is expected in 2030. I would not rule out the possibility that an external element or an element that got out of control (responsible for the unrest in Kosovo), but I hope that the situation will calm down. I think that if the Kosovo issue was solved, if a solution was found that would be acceptable for both Kosovo and Serbia, then many issues could be solved much simpler and that would stabilize the Western Balkans in the long run. Then the real integration of the Western Balkans into the Union could start, Grošelj believes.

Demostats interlocutor claims that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will eventually agree to the formation of the community of Serb municipalities. He said, "one day it will be true. I dont have any doubts. Kurti cannot avoid this, as a deft politician in these negotiations, he will try to get something else, not from Serbia, but from the EU. There are five states in the EU that do not recognize Kosovo, but a political consensus has been reached in the EU that the one that does not recognize Kosovo does not disable the activities of the European Union, so you have EULEX. This is the political spirit of the Union, which should have more in the Western Balkans”.

Grošelj explains: "I hope that the transformation of the Western Balkans will take place, through the process of EU integration, and I always point out that, although I know that it is difficult, that these are emotional issues, sovereignty issues, the EU is based on the historical reconciliation between Germany and France. The French and Germans had been at war for 200 years, a hundred years intensively, and their reconciliation enabled the creation of the European Union, as a project of peace, and, at the same time, an economic project, which outgrew the political creation. This is a historic moment that has now come in the Western Balkans, for Kosovo, and for BiH.”

Answering the question of whether he changed his position that the European Parliament would not welcome the holding of early elections in Serbia, because in Serbia in the past decade they often went to the polls “before the deadline”, as well as whether there is time to improve electoral conditions, provided that voting is already in December, Grošelj says:”I look at it a little differently than politicians in Serbia. In a mature democracy, early elections happen when a government loses its majority in Parliament. That was the essence of my statement”.

According to this MEP, the most important thing for the future of Serbian democracy is to “create a plural, independent media environment, meaning that you have media that are independent, that report on different political views and events in society, and that you do not have big discrepancies between political actors, in the sense that someone from the government, say, 300 times in the media, and someone else from the opposition five times. These are basic things."

He also referred to the finding from the Demostat research, according to which the opposition parties would need about 16,000 so-called "controllers"(two at each polling station), since there are more than 8,000 polling stations in our country. Asked how to find reliable controllers, since the power of corruption is great, especially on the day of voting, as well as a few days before going to the polls, Grošelj points out: "then, there is the electoral process itself. In modern politics you are so that in fact the next election campaign starts the day after the election, and if we are talking about democracy, then it means that all political forces must be able to present their political visions, ideas, and other things important to society, in the media, so that it reaches the voters. If thats true, then its democracy. In Serbia, this is a problem. The question is whether things will change so much by December that we will see free and fair elections. Im very sceptical. I was an observer of the elections in BiH, i was also an observer in the EP mission to the elections in Serbia the act of the election itself is the last act of the democratic process, everything before is much more important. I was not very impressed by what I saw in the Serbian Parliament Primer an example from the Slovenian parliament - according to the rules of procedure, the opposition runs two committees - the Finance Committee and the intelligence and security oversight committee. A lot of delicate areas - there is nothing like that in Serbia. These are the things that need to be sorted out, but it does not go overnight. I would like to see some progress in this regard, but, for now, I unfortunately do not see that in Serbia," said Grošelj.

Regarding the readiness of the European Parliament to mediate again in the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition in Serbia on electoral conditions, the interlocutor of Demostat states: ”I would be most pleased if this dialogue was conducted within the Serbian Parliament, because the best agreements are those that political forces are able to reach on their own. Without an intermediary. This is the best thing for democracy. Mediation has brought some changes so far, but much has remained the same, so I have a problem with the claims of the Serbian authorities who say that Serbia is very close to the Union. For a country on the verge of joining the Union, the issues of the electoral process should already be taken off the table a long time ago. This is why the EU, the European Commission, the European Parliament always point out the rule of law issue.”

Grošelj notes: "the rule of law means a free media, a free electoral process, all other democratic processes, and, of course, the issue of the judiciary. The judiciary should be independent, do its job according to the law, which includes the fight against corruption.  We know that now Moldova and Ukraine have received the status of candidates for EU membership, so if these countries move quickly towards the Union, someone will ask: How can they do it, and in the Western Balkans there has been no progress for 15 years. These things are quite complicated, but I hope that the political forces in Serbia, and that is primarily the responsibility of the current authorities, will create the conditions for Serbia to have fair and free elections, whether they are early (if that is the agreement of all political forces), or regular.

Commenting on the fact that there is no media pluralism in Serbia, i.e. the situation in which most media, including those with national frequency, are under the control of the authorities, as well as that the pro-Russian narrative, accompanied by anti-Western rhetoric, dominates, Grošelj states: “it is a political decision. In the inter-party dialogue, the issue of the Regulatory Authority for electronic media (REM) is an important one, it is an issue of institutions. REM should act to ensure that the media is independent, that everything that people watch is in line with standards. If REM is not independent, if those people who are on different boards of that institution are not independent, if they are not competent, if they do not have the necessary knowledge, then you have the situation in which Serbia has found itself. I think that the political responsibility is quite clear, the responsibility lies with the authorities, to create conditions in accordance with the standards that apply in the EU. It is clear that the situation will never be completely ideal, but in Serbia the media scene is extremely distorted, and in a way the media should be the fourth branch of government, to be a service of society, not a service of the government. Public television would have to give quality content and for everyone, both political actors and civil society to come out and present their views”.

According to Demostats interlocutor, the attitude towards civil society, including the frequent public targeting of the NGO sector in Serbia as “traitors” and “foreign mercenaries” is “a narrative that comes from Russia, and to some extent is mirrored on Serbia”.

Civil society, i.e. the NGO sector is very important, they deal with issues that are important for societies. Without civil society, there is no democracy. Democracy is not just a party. That would be partocracy and thats not desirable. Political parties and civil society together constitute one functional democracy of each country, Grošelj points out.

Asked how he comments on the high degree of air pollution in Serbia, since ecology is one of the topics on which the “Lets rebuild Europe” group insists in the EP, as well as whether the installation of exhaust gas purification filters is possible, Klemen Grošelj notes: ”we all have problems here. And in Ljubljana, Brussels, the source of the problem is mostly traffic and industry. The solution is to go towards technological progress, to support those technologies that mean a lower degree of pollution".

When asked how he views the fact that Chinese investments in Serbia are not always transparent when it comes to environmental impact, our interlocutor states: ”when Serbia enters the EU, it will have to respect the standards of the union, so if Serbias strategic goal is to enter the Union, it should already apply them in that segment. This is an apolitical question. Pollution of water, air, environment is a universal issue of humanity, and I think that the standards that we in the EU have are good, so Serbia could apply them as well”.

National issues will dominate the EP campaign

Asked what campaign he expects for the European Parliament elections in June, Grošelj said the emphasis will be on national issues. “I will run within Slovenia, there will be nine seats in the EP for Slovenia. There will also be issues related to the EU, such as dealing with climate change, the Green deal, the digitalization of the EU, probably also the issue of migration, as well as issues related to the future of the EU, the debate on the institutional framework of the Union has already begun, whether we will go to changes to the fundamental agreements or not. There will be classic topics, such as salaries and privileges of MEPs,” he explains.

Serbia may join the EU in 2030

Klemen Grošelj believes that Serbia could become a member of the European Union in 2030, which is the date mentioned as a new possible timing for the expansion. "This should be understood as a date when the EU will be ready for a new enlargement. If there is a genuine political will for Serbia to implement all those reforms that are already known, that date would be quite realistic, but it is, above all, a question for the current Serbian authorities, and even for Serbian society to decide now. The war in Ukraine has profoundly changed things, and now countries have to choose. I hope that Serbia will choose the path to the EU, Serbia has always been part of the great European nations, and I see no reason why it should not be in the family of European nations again. I think that Serbia can bring that good to the EU, as well as the Union to Serbia, but the path is as it is. Some reforms are a little more difficult for society, and some for political elites”.