“This draft law raises the question of the Serbian government’s genuine intentions regarding integration into the European Union, what is currently being prepared in the media sphere is not in line with what has been promised and with what is required of Serbia by the European Union within the EU accession negotiations. This legislation is more like what we see in some other countries that are classified as authoritarian states,” said Groselj.
He believes that the draft media law also carries a political message, one very wrong at this point in time, especially having in mind all that is happening in connection with Serbia – the debate at the latest European Parliament session, which will be followed by a Resolution.
“All of this is very much like what happened in Hungary, there has obviously been some copying of Hungarian, even Polish media legislation. This is one of the important issues in the European Union, because you know that sanctions were introduced against Hungary and Poland over this, they have no access to all of the European funds. This is also how it will be viewed in the case of Serbia. The issue of the REM (Serbian Regulatory body for electronic media) has been on the political agenda of both the European Parliament and the entire European Union for quite some time now, we all know the expectations: the expectations are that this will be a regulatory body free from all political influence, but as we could see now, but also over the last few years – nothing has changed there. So, this combination, these laws with the REM as it is and as it probably will be, will mean that the Serbian government has decided to move away from its European path and to obviously take a different path. This is a clear message and I expect there to be reactions of both the European Commission and of the European Parliament, as well as from the member states,” said the European Parliament member.
He predicted that the Commission will most likely do something, but noted that it must be clear to the Serbian public that some EU member states are already considering sanctions against Serbia.
“If Serbia doesn’t change the political path it has taken, with all these developments in Kosovo, the Serbian government has obviously decided that EU membership is no longer its foreign policy goal or strategy. This is a message that worries and saddens me, it is obviously the reality that we are in,” said Groselj.
