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Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) voted in favor of the compromise amendments agreed to to the report of EP rapporteur Vladimir Bilchik on Serbia. The 38 amendments were adopted as agreed, as well as the 50 basic amendments proposed.
In them, the deputies ask Serbia to solve the Krušik, Jovanjica and Telekom Srbija scandals to the end, but also to “do justice in the case of the demolition of Savamala in Belgrade”, condemn and demand sanctions for public attacks and speech hatred from the parliamentary rostrum. The Stabilization and Association Committee, Tanja Fajon or other MEPs, as well as political opponents, independent media and journalists, considering it a “violation of democratic practices and basic democratic values”, urge political actors to continue dialogue on conditions electoral.
The report itself welcomes the further European integration of Serbia and the Government’s commitment to this process, the economic indicators and the planned constitutional and judicial reforms, but also the improvement of the work of the Serbian Parliament through the adopted regulation on behavior or the adoption of a media strategy.
However, the tone of the basic report was “sharpened” significantly with the amendments.
Most AFET members also supported 46 commitments and 18 had previously tabled unchanged amendments to the report on Kosovo prepared by Kosovo rapporteur Viola von Cramon, who harshly criticized the lack of results of the reform, but also the non-compliance with the Brussels obligations. Agreement, insisting that, pursuant to it, Pristina should establish the Union of Serbian Municipalities.
In the report itself, which will be voted on in its entirety this afternoon, they ask the five remaining EU countries to recognize Kosovo, because they believe that it is in the interest of both Kosovo and those countries and the EU, taxes on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and seek the elimination of external influences in the work of the Specialized Chambers and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Kosovo in The Hague. At the same time, they regret the lack of results of the reforms in the judiciary or the media and the limited progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime.
They believe that for further EU integration, the most important thing is respect for the rule of law and democratic values and the status of minorities, while the key condition is the normalization of relations with Serbia through the achievement of a legally binding global agreement between two sides.
