Serbian political scientist: EU continues to put pressure on Serbia over elections

The Serbian government has agreed to hold repeat municipal elections in Belgrade to prevent new protests, Serbian political scientist Ognjen Gogic told Report.

Earlier, the expert noted that the West will most likely continue to exert political pressure on the Serbian government.

“I would say that there was joint pressure both in the country itself and from outside, from the EU. Commissions were assembled, investigations were carried out, reports were prepared, and so on. They [the EU] were critical of the election process that took place in Belgrade," he noted.

The announcement of repeat municipal elections was accepted by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPS) after opposition protests. According to the expert, in this way the PCA seeks to satisfy both the requests of the Serbian opposition and the international community represented by the EU.

Despite the protests in December 2023 due to the fact that the opposition did not agree with the results of parliamentary elections in Serbia, the expert is confident that the ruling party will retain its power since the opposition is no longer challenging them.

"The question is not whether we will have a government, we definitely will. The question is early municipal elections in the capital Belgrade," he emphasized.

Gogic believes that it is difficult to determine the outcome of the upcoming elections, since the opposition may have an advantage.

"Talking about foreign policy, we can say that the Serbian president has succeeded in political balance. And it seems to me that there is a consensus in the international community that he is exactly what Serbia needs," he concluded, adding that no changes in the country's foreign policy should be expected.