Monitoring delegation of European Parliament announced: ''Elections well conducted''

Monitoring delegation of European Parliament announced: ''Elections well conducted''

This was stated for Marker by the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilčik.

"What we noticed is that the elections were well conducted, well managed. There are some irregularities when it comes to the reports we received from the places we visited about bringing in additional voters, but it is not about a large number of voters. Also, about the potential buying of votes, especially in and around the polling stations. But again, these were not major incidents, but those that we observed on a smaller scale. So, overall, I think the elections went smoothly. That's why I want to congratulate the citizens of Serbia for voting in larger numbers compared to last year," Bilcik said.

Bilčik stated that it is good that Serbia will have a more representative pluralist parliament as a result of these republican elections.

When asked if he thought the irregularities he mentioned were systemic or isolated cases, Bilčik replied that the observers of the EP delegation did not notice any systemic irregularities on the day of the election.

"But we also said in the joint statement of the international observation missions that in terms of equal conditions in the campaign, there are some systemic issues that arose from the dominant position of the ruling majority and the ruling party," he said.

When asked if he thinks that this unequal position and what happened on the election day can call into question the election result, Bilčik replied that it is not up to him to pass judgment on the election results.

"It is in the hands of the government in Serbia. I think that all these issues should be properly processed, properly investigated and addressed. This is extremely important. From our point of view, we saw some irregularities, but overall we also saw the smooth conduct of the elections when "we are talking about the republican elections. We did not observe the local elections in Belgrade," he pointed out.

"We had many worries and fears, and I just want to highlight some good news. I know that people will focus on many issues, many problems, but there is also good news. For example, the issue of Kosovo dominated the campaign a lot, but from the reports that we got, there were no tensions about the voters from Kosovo and Metohija who came to central Serbia to vote. I think it's a shame that they couldn't do it in Kosovo and Metohija, but it's good that they could vote in central Serbia and come back home without any trouble or harassment, and I think that is also something that should be highlighted," Bilcik said.

Bilčik emphasized that he hopes that Serbia will now be "slightly freed from extraordinary elections because constant election cycles do not allow space for political work and political decisions that are so crucial for Serbia's movement towards the European Union".