Goran Ciric, Head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, and Aleksandar Stevanovic, Deputy Head of the Enough is Enough Parliamentary Group, spoke about the political situation in Serbia after the parliamentary elections, the situation in the media and the European integration process.

Ciric and Stevanovic opined that during the election campaign the media were unavailable to the representatives of the opposition and the Democratic Party was persecuted and criminalised, while Enough is Enough’s campaign was limited to social networks.

The Deputy Head of the Enough is Enough Parliamentary Group Aleksandar Stevanovic said that the situation in the media that accompanied the election process persists to-date and that there is no freedom of the media. He opined that the traditional media are closed to the opposition parties, and without social networks where different opinions can be heard, his party would not have made it into the National Assembly.

Speaking of the implementation of media laws in Serbia, the Head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group Goran Ciric said that an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship has been created in the media, accompanied by the elimination of shows which criticised the new reality in Serbia which additionally prevented the opposition from floating different ideas. The privatisation of local and regional media in Serbia has also been completed, placing them into the hands of people close to the ruling party.

“There is not enough room for the opposition in the media, but what is an even bigger problem is the fact that the media in Serbia are used to disqualify political opponents. This is not an atmosphere that builds trust and shows a lack of understanding of open dialogue between the opposition and the ruling party”, said Ciric.

The meeting also touched on European integration, the citizens’ support for Serbia’s European path, and the co-rapporteurs were also interested in the status of TANJUG News Agency after the privatisation process.

“We see Serbia as a part of the EU, but we have a long way ahead and there is a degree of incoherence in Serbia because on one hand we are opening chapters while the society has a tendency contrary to EU standards such as the rule of law, media freedom, ownership rights, etc. We are optimistic, but the speed of our European integration is far from optimal”, said Stevanovic.

Goran Ciric reminded the co-rapporteurs that the Democratic Party has always been for European integration and peace in the region.

“Today, the citizens’ support of the European process has been brought into question i.e. the realisation of European laws. We have an important moment ahead of us – the presidential elections in May of next year, and we hope a pro-European candidate will win, which will be very important for Serbia’s European prospects”, said Ciric.

The PACE Monitoring Committee delegation also comprised Sylvie Affholder, Committee Secretary, and Tim Cartwright, Head of the Council of Europe Mission to Serbia.