Serbia will face repercussions from both Germany and the EU for the irregularities in the December snap general election, German Bundestag member Josip Juratovic has warned. 

The elections were marred by multiple irregularities, according to international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) mission, which is due to present its final report by the end of February. 

Juratovic, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), told N1 that specific actions will be taken once the OSCE submits its final report. 

Unacceptable actions 

He made clear that Berlin is considering action against Serbia, saying that the actions of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic can no longer be tolerated. 

“Every democrat in the EU, USA and Canada finds the processes that took place in Serbia during the elections inadmissible. That cannot be tolerated and there cannot be silence on that. Perhaps not everyone will react strongly to everything that happened, but there will be consequences,” Juratovic told N1.

He added that the current situation in Serbia can no longer be tolerated. 

“The fact that [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic is toying with us has not been tolerated for a long time. He is saying one thing and doing another. Actually, we all know what he is doing, and this was tolerated for a while. But not any longer. In the last elections Serbia trampled on all the democratic rules and violated everything that can be violated in a democratic system,” said Juratovic.

SNS victory  

The SNS – seen as informally led by Vucic despite his resignation from the party leadership – scored a resounding victory on December 17, with the official results from the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) released on January 3 confirming that the SNS took 46.75% of the vote. Its closest rival, the opposition Serbia Without Violence coalition, was on just 23.66%, dashing hopes in Serbia that this could be the beginning of the end for the SNS’ dominance of Serbian politics. 

Local elections held in some municipalities on the same day delivered more wins for the SNS, including a victory in the capital Belgrade. 

The opposition was quick to claim that the vote had been rigged. As well as complaints about the conduct of the general election, they raised more serious objections about the vote in Belgrade, claiming that around 40,000 Bosnian Serbs had been bused in to vote in the Serbian capital, swinging the vote towards the SNS’ candidate, former water polo champion Aleksandar Sapic.

Delayed action 

Western officials including European Commissioners Josep Borrell and Oliver Varhelyi, responsible for foreign policy and enlargement respectively, commented shortly after the election that Serbia’s “electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reform”. However, since then there has been no further response from the EU or the US.  

The West – and in particular the EU, which Serbia aspires to join – is under growing pressure to take action, with calls from MEPs and politicians in EU member states mounting steadily. 

Juratovic said the slow response was because of the holiday season, with people being off work, but he mentioned that meetings addressing the issue will commence this week.