The European Parliament called on the European Commission to launch an initiative to send an expert mission to Serbia, which could include experts from the OSCE/ODIHR, the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe, to assess the situation with recent elections and post-election developments, in order to facilitate the preconditions for establishing the necessary social dialogue, leading to the restoration of public trust and faith in institutions

According to Demostats unofficial findings, some parliamentary groups in the EP advocated for an even tougher text of the draft resolution, which would include the complete termination of negotiations on Serbias EU membership, unless an international investigation is launched.

However, according to Demostat, this proposal was not agreed by the European Peoples Party, of which SNS is an associate member.

In the Draft Resolution, the EP calls on the Commission and the Council to apply strict conditionality and reduce or freeze funding provided to the Serbian government through Instrument for pre-accession assistance III (IPA III) and other financial instruments, if the Serbian authorities are unwilling to implement key election recommendations, or if they are unwilling to launch an independent international investigation into electoral irregularities, or if the findings of this investigation indicate that the Serbian authorities were directly involved in electoral fraud.

The Draft Resolution states that the EP supports the rapid deployment of an ad hoc fact-finding mission to Serbia as part of this international investigation, with the participation of the European Parliament, and adds that the results of this investigation should be reported to the European Parliament.

The mission should assess and address systematic rule of law issues in Serbia, following the example of the "Pribe report" on the rule of law in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The European Parliament deplores the lack of an institutional response to serious doubts about the involvement of the current authorities in election manipulation and abuse, which maintains impunity and ensures the continuity of these practices.

The EP expresses concern that some of the irregularities in the elections and ahead of the elections constitute potential criminal activities under Serbian law and Constitution, and stresses that if this practice continues without any consequences, it will continue to undermine confidence in electoral processes and institutions in Serbia, irreversibly hindering democratic rule and further European integration.

MEPs underline the importance of a thorough investigation of all complaints related to the elections, including the recent request to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the elections for the assembly of the city of Belgrade of the coalition "Serbia Against Violence".

The European Parliament condemns the lack of results in the prosecution and punishment of crimes in elections, including serious claims of illegal manipulation of The Register of voters and voting rights, pressures and intimidation of citizens and candidates in elections, cases of corruption, falsification of citizens signatures, clientelism, illegitimate and illegal misuse of citizens data, abuse of state functions and the lack of effective mechanisms to prevent the current authorities from gaining an unfair institutional advantage in elections.

In the Draft Resolution, the EP reiterates its position that accession negotiations with Serbia should progress only if the country aligns with EU sanctions against Russia and makes significant progress in its EU-related reforms, but also after the full implementation of OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations by Serbia.

EP notes with “concern that Serbia has not fulfilled many long-standing OSCE/ODIHR recommendations on basic issues of the electoral process, despite multiple calls to do so, including from the European Commission”

The document also calls on Serbian authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes during elections and attacks on students.

The EP condemns the attacks by government officials, especially Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and President Aleksandar Vucic on election observers, including members of the European Parliament, and calls for a return to respect and constructive discourse, stressing the importance of mutual respect in the democratic process.;

“The EP is again deeply concerned about attempts to discredit and intimidate observers; calls on the Serbian authorities to take all necessary steps to avoid further disinformation campaigns against election observers and create conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their job, protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary act for their lawful exercise of their rights and freedoms”.

The Serbian authorities are also urged to provide institutional solutions to overcome the current problems, to ensure “the proper functioning of Parliament and government, without a constant cycle of campaigns and frequent early elections”.

“The EP calls on the Serbian authorities to restore the confidence of voters in the whole process, to ensure full transparency of electoral procedures”.

"The authorities should fully and substantially cooperate with OSCE/ODIHR observers, European Union and Council of Europe observers and promote an inclusive process of ensuring the rights and freedoms, institutions and processes related to elections”.

The EP notes with " concern that Serbia has not fulfilled many long-standing OSCE/ODIHR recommendations on fundamental issues of the electoral process, despite multiple calls to do so, including from the European Commission”.

MEPs also took a critical look at the media situation during the campaign. As it stands, it condemns the ”lack of media pluralism during the election campaign”.

“It is noted with concern that a large number of media outlets are under the influence or control of the government, which has led to unequal playing conditions for opposition candidates during the election campaign”, the document states.

The EP also calls on the Serbian authorities to provide enough democratic guarantees for the next local elections in 2024.

As it is concluded: ”it is unacceptable that Serbia, as a candidate country for EU membership, did not meet the basic European and international democratic standards”.