Belgrade, December 8th,2020 

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Serbia again on the side opposing the EU

Forum for security and democracy expresses its regret regarding yesterday’s vote in the OUN’s General Assembly at which Serbia did not – together with EU member states and membership candidates – unanimously support the resolution that opposes further militarization of the Crimea peninsula by Russia, which has previously been declared an occupying force in Crimea by the General Assembly.

FSD expects that the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs will publicly clarify this position taken by Serbia as swiftly as possible, seeing as how it can be viewed as a position that is directly opposed to Serbia’s foreign policy goals and its goal of attaining EU membership.

FSD wishes to point out that yesterday’s vote in OUN’s General Assembly seriously undermines the credibility of the program of Mrs. Brnabic’s government for which it got a vote of confidence in the National Assembly. Moreover, it is FSD’s view that all the ministers who advocate for EU membership are obliged to reconsider their further participation in this government should it continue to, more so than any government in the last ten years, alienate us away from our European neighbors and the EU.

FSD also regrets the silence of the media and opposition parties regarding the vote in the United Nations General Assembly. Namely, we believe that all opposition parties – or at least those that define themselves as pro-EU parties – should have already condemned this aligning of Serbia with some of the most notorious autocracies on the planet. Provided, of course, that those political parties have the will, strength, and capacity to continue Serbia’s integrations towards the European Union.

FSD especially points out that the media coverage vacuum and the one-day delay of reporting on this vote in the OUN GA once again confirms the concerns expressed by prominent individuals that professional journalism in Serbia is entirely subservient to political-party interests and that that stranglehold will lead to a further deterioration of the media’s credibility should it persist in its silence on similar issues.