The PES extends its full support to the tens of thousands of people protesting in Serbia against the current president Aleksandar Vučić, and his government.
Thousands of students from universities across Serbia joined the protest, demanding complete transparency in the investigation of the Novi Sad station disaster, the immediate release of the students and citizens who were detained by the police during the protests, and a probe for police brutality.
Serbian Prime Minster Milos Vučević resigned yesterday, and President Aleksandar Vučić has already hinted that he might call a snap election soon.
PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:
“We fully support the students and the citizens who are protesting on the streets in Belgrade and elsewhere. The Serbian people have the right to know how high the responsibility for the 15 innocent people killed in the Novi Sad station disaster goes.
The Serbian people also have the right to live in a democratic country where the rule of law is respected, officials are kept accountable for their actions, and the guarantee comes with free and fair elections.’’
The PES is worried that on top of the ruling party SNS’s abuse of power, it is possible that an election process in Serbia could be influenced via social media and other methods from abroad, as it is suspected to have happened in Romania and elsewhere in Europe lately. The incumbent president Vučić and his party SNS, who have dominated Serbia’s politics for over a decade, are facing accusations of election fraud by the opposition, and have been criticised by international observers on the standards in the elections held in December 2023. The PES called for a transparent investigation of all reports on election irregularities, but Vucic and his government managed to sweep the reports under the carpet.
European Socialists and Democrats are convinced that Serbian society and citizens deserve to live like their neighbours in the rest of Europe and provides full support to those political forces which are persistently and uncompromisingly fighting together with the citizens for European values.
