N1’s Europe correspondent said on Wednesday that European Parliament Rapporteur Tonino Picula’s report on Serbia is much more comprehensive and strict than his initial draft.
The report is before the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) for adoption.
The final draft report, as seen by N1, says that Serbia’s progress toward EU membership has stalled because of problems with democracy, rule of law, media freedom, electoral conditions, and relations with Kosovo and includes criticism, incidents, clear demands, and strict expectations for both the Serbian authorities and the European Commission.
Serbia is assessed as having limited or no progress in many areas and has largely failed to meet the obligations required to open Cluster 3. The report urges the European Commission to adjust financial support if Serbia backslides and notes the deepening political crisis amid mass protests following the November 2024 Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy as well as electoral irregularities.
The report is significantly stricter on several issues, including the Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy investigation and sharply criticizes the set of recently adopted judiciary laws.
It also raises concerns are also raised about the repression of protesters, journalists, and activists, including police violence, arbitrary arrests, surveillance, and harassment as well as the use of spyware, facial recognition systems, and misuse of EU funds for surveillance technology. The report says that media freedom is deteriorating, with increased attacks on journalists, media concentration, political pressure, and weak regulatory institutions and criticized the low level of alignment with EU positions. The report calls for ending military cooperation with Russia and closing the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Niš.
Regarding Kosovo, the report demands the full implementation of agreements, prosecution of those responsible for the 2023 Banjska armed incident, and condemns attacks on infrastructure in northern Kosovo. It said that normalization with Kosovo is essential for Serbia’s EU path.
Source: N1
