EC defends EP election observation delegation opposed by Serbia

The European Commission (EC) came to the defense of the European Parliament (EP) delegation, which will observe the elections in Serbia, after official Belgrade objected to its composition.

"Regarding specifically the election observation missions, I want to be clear: we take very seriously all attempts to discredit MEPs participating in election observation," European Commission spokesman Christian Wiegand said during a press conference.

He emphasized that the delegation's work is based on clear standards, impartiality, and many years of expertise.

"Therefore, we expect all countries, including, of course, candidate countries and potential candidates [for membership in the European Union], to cooperate constructively and transparently with international election observation efforts," the spokesman in Brussels said.

“The deployment of a long-term election observation mission by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], by the way, at the request of the Serbian authorities, as well as the invitation to the EP, constitute important steps towards ensuring credible election observation and supporting the contribution of domestic observers to the integrity of the electoral process,” Wiegand added.

This reaction came after the Speaker of the Parliament and Acting President of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in which she expressed her opposition to the composition of the delegation, especially the appointment of MEP Andreas Schieder as its leader.

According to Brnabić, the public activity so far of some members of the delegation testifies to its "complete political bias."

After receiving the letter, the EP announced that it has no intention of changing the composition of the delegation that will observe the early parliamentary elections in Serbia, which will be held on Sunday, October 25th.

On October 22, the letter was also responded to by Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, who said that Vienna does not consider criticism of Schieder, who is from Austria, to be a good signal.

Speaking about the elections to be held in Serbia on October 25, Spokesperson Wiegand said that the EU is closely following the upcoming voting process.

"Free, fair and transparent elections are at the core of European democracy. They must be organized in accordance with European and international standards," he said.

Meanwhile, days ago, similar calls for free and fair elections were made by a group of US senators from the two main parties in the United States.

The OSCE has deployed several hundred observers to monitor the early parliamentary elections.

In Serbia, since midnight, electoral silence has been in effect. /REL