Von der Leyen welcomes progress on electoral roll, agreement on REM Council

BELGRADE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday in Belgrade she welcomed recent progress on Serbia's unified electoral roll and an agreement on the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council.

Von der Leyen was responding to questions from reporters after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

"This is clearly a very crucial moment for Serbia, and it is the time for the nation to come together. It is also the moment to strengthen the foundations of a strong, vibrant and effective democracy. I want to reassure you that the European Union is ready to support you in any effort when that is concerned. This is, after all, what the whole accession process is all about. It is about the EU-related reforms, and these reforms should, of course, be done by taking the whole of society along. Everybody has to be involved in this reform process because it is changing the country for the better, for a strong democracy, so it should be including the whole political spectrum but, of course, also a strong part of civil society," she said.

Commenting on the unified electoral roll and the agreement on the REM Council, von der Leyen said:

"It has been agreed by the government working together with civil society organisations, so you really created here a platform to say this affects all of us - media freedom and electoral reforms."

"By forming this platform or a working platform, you were able to move forward and to agree on these two very important factors. So, that is a good first step. It might be an example for further work on EU-related reforms and, of course, now, implementation is key. It is very good to have the agreement, now would have to come the change on the ground," she added.