Changes from resolution motion joint to adopted text

19. Is concerned that despite new laws on electronic media and on public information and media, the conditions and pluralism in the media have deteriorated; strongly regrets that the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) neglected its obligations under the law to scrutinise the campaign in the media, report on its findings and sanction media outlets that breached the law, spread hate speech or violated journalistic standards; notes, with concern, that the REM has only published monitoring results for the public broadcaster and private cable channels, but not for private national channels close to the ruling party;

20. Expresses its concerns about cases of abusive attacks and language combined with harassment against journalists, human rights activists and civil society organisations, in some instances coming from government officials, particularly prior to the elections; urges the Serbian authorities to counter foreign interference and disinformation campaigns, to strongly improve the protection of independent journalism and to ensure a transparent media landscape; underlines that the EU institutions must do more to ensure that the rights and freedoms of Serbian journalists and media are protected; points out that access to pre-accession funding should be used as a tool to stop the media freedom situation from deteriorating further;

21. Calls for a reform of the effectiveness of the campaign oversight mechanisms, including of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the ad hoc Committee for Campaign Oversight, to ensure timely and transparent handling of complaints related to the misuse of public resources;

22. Highlights that Serbia, as a candidate country for EU membership, lacks sufficiently implemented basic EU and international democratic standards; calls on the Serbian authorities to ensure that there are enough democratic guarantees in place to hold the next regular local elections in 2024, as well as future elections;

23. Notes that all Serbian Parliaments in the past 12 years but one were dissolved early and that the continuation of unnecessary snap elections undermines political stability; underlines that constant early elections, permanent campaign mode and long delays in forming governments do not contribute to efficient democratic governance of the country, but instead weaken the parliament and lead to a lack of parliamentary legislative oversight and legitimacy;

24. Underlines the importance of freedom of speech and acknowledges that everyone has the right to express their views and participate in peaceful protests; condemns, in this context, the disproportionate use of police violence against peaceful demonstrators protesting against electoral fraud; is concerned about allegations that agent provocateurs infiltrated the protests to trigger the intervention of the police; is concerned about assessments that some participants in the protest on 24 December 2023 received disproportionately harsh treatment by the police and the judiciary, in stark contrast to the practices of the Serbian police in previous protests in the country; urges the EU and Member States’ diplomatic missions to continue monitoring the ongoing legal cases related to the protests;

25. Strongly condemns the Serbian authorities’ unsubstantiated claims that EU Member States were involved in organising post-election protests; regrets that the protests have been used as an excuse to spread anti-EU narratives in the media close to the ruling party;

26. Regrets the lack of vocal criticism by the Commission, notably by the Commissioner for Enlargement, regarding the numerous allegations of voter fraud in the Serbian elections, and calls on the Commission to address the shortcomings that have led to these allegations without delay;

27. Reiterates its position that accession negotiations with Serbia should advance only if the country makes significant progress on its EU-related reforms, including full implementation of the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission; calls on the Commission and the Council to apply strict conditionality; calls on the Commission to follow up thoroughly on the reports of the European Court of Auditors and to immediately start the audit of the funding provided to the Serbian Government under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III (IPA III) and other financial instruments; underlines that if the Serbian authorities are unwilling to implement key election recommendations or if the findings of this investigation indicate that the Serbian authorities were directly involved in the voter fraud, calls for the suspension of EU funding on the basis of severe breaches of the rule of law in connection with Serbia’s elections;

28. Undertakes to closely monitor post-electoral developments in Serbia and commits to supporting reforms that strengthen democracy and help Serbia to advance on the path towards EU accession; stresses that it has always endeavoured to support political pluralism and the reinforcement of an inclusive election environment in Serbia through all its activities, in particular through the inter-party dialogue and the parliamentary dialogue process; underlines the importance of continuing the inter-party dialogue and the parliamentary dialogue process; calls for the EU to co-facilitate an internal and meaningful dialogue in Serbia between the government and the opposition in order to overcome the current climate of deep political polarisation; considers Parliament, against this background, to be the most suitable institution to act as a constructive facilitator;

29. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President of the European Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and National Assembly of Serbia, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.