The European Union (EU) said on Tuesday that the electoral process in Serbia needs to be improved and reformed, following criticism from international observers who assessed that there were many irregularities in the elections held on Sunday, in which the ruling party won.
“We conclude with concern that the electoral process requires tangible improvement and additional reforms,” said a spokeswoman for the European Commission.
”The European Parliament is ready to mediate between the ruling party and the opposition in Belgrade, ” pointed out the German MEP of ”Greens”, Viola von Cramon, a member of the election observers.
International observers criticized numerous irregularities in the elections.
”Serbia voted, but the OSCE pointed to cases of abuse of public funds, voter intimidation and vote-buying,” the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized this process. “This is unacceptable for a country that has the status of a candidate for EU membership.”
According to preliminary results, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, nationalist right party), from whose leadership Vucic formally stepped down in May of this year, won 46.7 percent of the votes.
The center-left pro-European opposition coalition “Serbia Against Violence” won 23.5 percent of the vote.
But those results are contested. The opposition criticizes fraud in Belgrade and several thousand people gathered on Monday evening in front of the electoral commission demanding the annulment of the elections in the capital, N1 writes.
