Analyst: Problems Regarding Democracy Left Aside in EC's Latest Report on Serbia

Djordje Dimitrov (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

European Policy Center analyst Djordje Dimitrov has said that reading the latest European Commission (EC) report on Serbia leaves the impression that problems related to democracy have been left aside - election irregularities have been greatly toned down, there is no mention at all of the European Parliament resolution on elections, and even ODIHR's findings have been considerably mitigated.

In an interview with BETA's Daily European Service on Nov. 1, Dimitrov said this was the first time the EC had assessed the functioning of democratic institutions and that in Serbia that functioning had been deemed "mixed."

Dimitrov further said that some of the EC's main objections from last year's report remained in the new one, including criticism over non-alignment with the Common Foreign and Security Policy, particularly the non-imposing of restrictive measures against Russia, as well as the state of media freedom.

The report also confirms that the Serbia-Kosovo agreement on normalization is part of the accession talks and must be implemented, said Dimitrov, adding that the Commission had criticized both Serbia and Kosovo for the lack of implementation.

According to him, the report has shown a minimum increase in the level of harmonization with the EU. "That is not an encouraging fact, since at this pace Serbia will not reach the required level of preparedness anytime soon. What is additionally concerning is that there has been no progress in as many as nine chapters, while 13 saw limited progress," said Dimitrov.

Where Cluster 3 is concerned, the EC noted that it was technically ready for opening which, as Dimitrov put it, sends a mixed message. "On one hand, that may lead to the acceleration of reforms with regard to the economy and faster integration into the common market, but on the other one could draw the wrong conclusion that everything is fine in Serbia and that the problems pertaining to democracy, rule of law and free and fair elections are not so serious," stressed the analyst.