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The head of the EU delegation in Serbia, Sam Fabrizi, said tonight that the role of journalists in a democratic society is important and that those who have different ideas should not be labeled as enemies or traitors.
Photo: FoNet / Aleksandar Barda“We must not be afraid of a different opinion. We must exchange opinions and criticism, respecting the other.” When we hear unjustified attacks on journalists, we always say that it is not correct, “Fabrizi said in an interview with H1 Television, when asked about attacks by members of the Serbian Parliament on journalists and actors.
Fabrizi said journalists must work professionally, but “must also be protected,” noting that one of the main recommendations that the EU gives to Serbian authorities is to respect media freedom and create better conditions for journalists. journalists.
He said for the civil sector that it is “an expression of a society that must be heard and must be respected.”
Speaking about the next session of the Serbian Parliament, in which MPs will discuss the latest report from the European Commission (EC) on Serbia’s progress on the path to the EU, Fabrizi stated that he was “interested” in that “some of the opposition got angry “because he went to the session. Serbian Assembly Committee for European Integration to discuss the shortcomings of the rule of law in Serbia.
The Italian diplomat assured that 2020 has been “long and very complicated”, that “little has happened in Serbia regarding the rule of law”, but that it is important that the process of European integration continues, although the EU has not opened new chapters in negotiations. with Serbia.
“We are working together to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic, mainly in the field of health, and the economy is in second place.” We cannot consider 2020 a lost year, although more could have been done. We started the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina after 20 months, we reached financial demands (two faces) that are complicated. “We are going in the right direction, the talks will be difficult, but they are developing as we want,” said Fabrizi.
He stated that the EC Report published at the beginning of October was “very clear”, that the Union pointed out in that document the deficiencies relating to electoral conditions and that they should be corrected. He recalled that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) “had a long list of recommendations” on electoral conditions.
“The message from the EU is that we must work with the ODIHR so that electoral conditions improve for the next elections, and that we must expand the political dialogue in society with different forces. “It is necessary to improve the political dynamics so that there is a constructive dialogue between all the political forces,” Fabrizi said.
Fabrizi said that the EU position is that Serbia is gradually making progress in harmonizing its foreign policy with the European one, and that so far it has harmonized it by 60 percent with the Union’s positions, but that there is a lot of room for improve that situation.
He stated that the EU’s new economic and investment plan for the Western Balkans will help the entire region move forward.
“We have a lot of air pollution due to old thermal power plants. Serbia needs to build new power plants and we are going in the right direction, to move from fuel to gas, from gas to renewable energy sources.” Three elements: green, digital and infrastructure will boost the economy because the pandemic has dealt a severe blow, “Fabrizi said.
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