President Aleksandar Vučić announced Belgrade elections and called for the government to be formed by April 1st, as the favourite for prime minister Marko Djuric was pictured in a restaurant with the man wanted in connection with the EU-dubbed ‘terrorist attack’ in north Kosovo.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the municipal elections in Belgrade will be rerun following widespread allegations of fraud and irregularities.
Vučić spoke late on Sunday evening in a televised speech, and called on the Ministry of internal affairs (MUP) to respect ODIHR recommendations in the upcoming elections.
“It is important to respect those recommendations, both regarding the training, and the number of people in one poll space, in order to not demotivate the people when crowds form. This does not happen because of real big crowds, but because you have 2,000 people in a single polling station”, Vučić said.
“There is enough time to do what is right in Belgrade, and all over Serbia, in that regard. We want to respect democratic norms in a better and broader way than those who have given us critiques in the past period”, Vučić said.
The vote was marred by many reports of the misuse of public funds, voter pressuring and vote buying, and the bussing in of Serbs from other countries to vote in the Belgrade election.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the elections “were dominated by the decisive participation of the president, which, together with the systemic advantages of the ruling party, created unfair conditions for the participants.”
According to the president, the vote in Belgrade will take place on 2 June.
“There has been no foreign pressure, quite the opposite. Brnabić has spoken to QUINT representatives, and I have spoken to our Eastern friends. Neither of us has faced any pressure or issue in this regard.”
“I call on our future parliament president to do her best in order for all the important decisions to be made in due time, and to try to form the new government by April 1st”, Vučić stated.
His comments come despite multiple calls from the international community, the EU, and a European Parliament resolution to investigate all allegations of vote buying and take action accordingly, including holding other votes where necessary.
“The representatives of the opposition have gotten everything they asked for in their demands, and if SNS loses in the local elections, we will congratulate those who gain more votes”, he concluded.
Meanwhile, Marko Djuric, the Serbian former ambassador to the US and widely touted as. the favourite for the role of prime minister, was photographed with Milan Radoicic, and the image was posted online over the weekend.
Radoicic, a close associate of the Serbian president, is wanted by Interpol and sanctioned by the US. He also admitted to leading the attack on Banjska, Kosovo in, in September 2024, which saw the death of a Kosovo police officer.
Radoicic is the former vice president of the Serb List, a Kosovo Serb political party.
Serbia has refused to extradite Radoicic, stating it cannot as it does not recognise Kosovo’s independence or sovereignty.
(Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac | Euractiv.rs, Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)
Read more with Euractiv
Romania’s top politicians in hot water after country wins gold mining arbitration caseRomania has won a case brought by Gabriel Resources Ltd and Gabriel Resources (Jersey) seeking €4 billion after Romania announced it was withdrawing funds for a gold and silver mining project – an announcement that caused outrage towards several politicians, including the prime minister, who had previously indicated that Romania was likely to lose the case.
Subscribe to our EU 2024 Elections newsletter
Email Address * Politics Newsletters
Source: euractiv.com
