The European Union said it has “taken note” of the OSCE/ODIHR’s preliminary findings on early municipal elections in Serbia and considers it necessary to “improve the electoral process” in that country, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
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“In light of these preliminary findings, we conclude with concern that the electoral process requires significant improvements and further reforms, since the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions lies at the core of Serbia’s accession to the EU,” the document states.
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The EU also called on the Serbian leadership to “ensure a constructive, inclusive dialogue” with all political forces.
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Representatives of the pro-Western opposition on Tuesday night expressed disagreement with the victory of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) coalition in Belgrade and staged protests in the city center. Their leaders, Marinika Tepic and Miroslav Aleksic, entered the election commission building, presented their complaints about the voting process and demands to annul the results, and went on a hunger strike. At the same time, protesters attacked members of election commissions and tried to bring knives, batons and bats into the building.
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The opposition claims that the votes of its voters were “stolen” in the elections, since Serbs with dual citizenship without capital registration allegedly voted in Belgrade. Representatives of the opposition bloc said that they had handed over “evidence” to the election commission.
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Serbian police on Tuesday detained two members of an opposition protest in front of the Republican Electoral Commission (REC) on Tuesday night for attacking the director of the Republican Department of Statistics, Miladin Kovacevic, as well as a police officer and for other violations.
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Extraordinary elections to the Assembly of Serbia, municipal elections in 65 cities and regions, including Belgrade, as well as in the autonomous region of Vojvodina were held on Sunday. In total, about 8.3 thousand voting places operated, including 81 abroad. More than 6.5 million citizens had the right to vote, the turnout was 58.65%.
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According to the decision published by the city electoral commission on the preliminary results of the municipal elections based on the results of processing materials from 92.46% of polling stations, the coalition around the SPP “Aleksandar Vučić – Belgrade does not dare stop” is in the lead with 44.55%. In second place is the pro-Western bloc “Serbia against violence” with 38.18%, in third place is the right-wing patriotic movement “Dr. Milos Jovanovic – Hope for Serbia.”
